“GOSSIP—I HEARD IT ON THE GRAPEVINE.”
INTRODUCTION:
John 15:5. “I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you
can do nothing.”
A. Isn’t
it interesting that one of the basic symbols of our relationship with Christ
has come to mean a way of gathering information?
1. As
the old song rings out, “I heard it
through the grapevine.”
B. WEBSTERS’
NEW COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY: “Grapevine: An
informal person-to-person means of circulating information or gossip.”
1. Second-hand
information not known for certain, but often passed on as truth!
C. One
thing that keeps the “grapevine” buzzing is our basic curiosity and desire to
know.
1. Sadly,
it’s the desire to no something negative about someone else, especially those we may not like that feeds
gossip.
a. Gossip
always demands one to spread the rumor and another willing to listen and
encourage the informant.
k BASIC PROBLEM—UNCONTROLABITY OF THE
TONGUE
A. James 3:5-8. “…the tongue is a small member and yet boasts great things. How great a
forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of
unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body,
setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every
kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been
tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless
evil, full of deadly poison.”
1. James
goes on to say that people will praise God one minute and with the very next
breath curse people made in the image of God, and then concludes, “these
things ought not to be so!”
l TWO
THINGS INSEPARABLY CONNECTED
A. Psa 19:14. “Let the words of my mouth, and
the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
1. Why
would David mention these two together?
a. Matt
B. So
to keep our tongues pure we must focus our minds and hearts on righteousness!!
1. Rom 12:2. “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what
is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Eph 4:22, 23. (Christ wants us) “…to put off the old self, which belongs to
your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and
to put on the new self, created
after the likeness of God…”
a. So,
Christianity is a new way of thinking and thus a new way of talking!!
m WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
GOSSIP?
A.
B. Before
relating something that may be detrimental, ask the following questions:
1.
Is
it true and necessary to tell this?
a. Often
in the N.T. negative statements are made, even by God and men of God, about
certain individuals and their evil practices. But always within the context of
truth that was necessary for confronting wickedness or the preservation of
souls.
2) God
would warn his people about certain nations or individuals.
2) Paul
would warn the church or individual Christians about the malignant affect of
some individual…and even call them by name.
2.
Will
it profit me or the one to whom I speak?
3.
Have
I considered the spiritual consequences of speaking or not speaking?
4.
Do
my words pass the righteousness/ godliness test?
C. But
we’re talking about speech that does not pass these tests and is merely
malicious, carnal and detrimental.
1. BE
HONEST! Don’t speak maliciously and then try to gloss it over with the lie of
good intentions!!
a. Prov 10:18-23. “The one who conceals hatred
has lying lips, and whoever utters
slander is a fool. When words are many, transgressions are not lacking, but
whoever restrains his lips is prudent. The tongue of the righteous is choice
silver; the heart of the wicked is of little value. The lips of the righteous
feed many, but fools die for lack of sense…Doing wrong is like a joke to a
fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.”
2. What
do we need to know about malicious, evil gossip?
DISCUSSION:
u GOSSIP WOUNDS.
A. Sometimes intended/ sometimes not -
1.
Same
proverb repeated:
a. Prov 18:8; 26:22. “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into
the inner parts of the body.”
1) Law expressly forbid -
a) Lev
B. Sometimes the wounds can be physical!!
1. Prov 18:6. “A fool’s lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating…”
C. Gossip always produces spiritual wounds!!
1. Prov 18:7. “A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.”
a. A
gossip digs his own grave, and destroys his own soul!!
v GOSSIP FOMENTS
DIVISION
A. Prov 16:28. “A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close
friends.” Prov 17:9. “Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter
separates close friends…”
B. Gossip
often reveals the evil intent of the one speaking:
1. Prov 16:27. “A worthless man plots evil,
and his speech is like a scorching fire…”
a. James
must have had this in mind when he wrote, “…the
tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness…”
b. I
like the translation of the KJV, “An evil
man diggeth up evil…”
1) One
who is always eager to gossip will find
something to talk about! If it is not readily available, he will dig it up!”
C. Ironically,
the gossip DIVIDES HIMSELF from the godly.
1. His
only companions are those who have sick minds like his!
2. Prov 20:19. “Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore, do not associate with a simple
babbler.”
a. Solomon
warns us not to associate with the man with the loose tongue, but it has been
my experience that such a person causes people to avoid them!
Ž GOSSIP IS CLASSED AMONG THE WORST EVILS.
A. In
Rom 1, Paul calls gossip a product
of a “debased mind” and lists it with
such things as:
1. Homosexuality,
murder, hating God and inventing evil and “all
manner of unrighteousness” !!!
CONCLUSION:
Let me close with a verse and a
concluding thought…
A. Psa 143:3. “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my
lips! Do not let my heart incline to any evil…”
1.
The
lips are the door to the heart!
2. It
is through that door that we can see what is in on the inside!
3. Out
of that door can march words that either cut or cure,
harm or help, condemn or comfort, scathe or sooth!
4. Your
heart is the guard of what is allowed in or what is allowed out!
a. Purify
your heart, and you will not gossip!