Six Deadly Effects
To see these is the greatest antidote to gossip.
‘A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends’ (Proverbs 16.28).
1. Against God’s standards for speech
The Lord’s commands for the speech of believers are plain, but malicious gossip disobeys them all. The words of a gossip are like a fountain (says James) sending forth sweet water and bitter at the same time. The Lord’s requirements for Christian speech are: ‘first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy'(James 3.17).
‘Sound speech, that cannot be condemned’ is the standard for believers (Titus 2.8). Backbiting and whispering are clear marks of godlessness and lack of repentance (2 Corinthians 12.20-21). Malice, in word as well as deed, is repeatedly condemned (Ephesians 4.31; Colossians 3.8; Titus 3.3; 1 Peter 2.1). Slander is to be rejected (1 Timothy 3.11). Evil speaking is to be put away, along with bitterness, and replaced by kindness, tender-heartedness and forgiveness (Ephesians 4.31-32).
Gossip is, of course, condemned utterly in the supreme expression of God’s holy law given in the ten commandments: ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.’ The more specific words of God given through Moses should ring in the ears of every potential gossip – ‘Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people.’
To gossip is to be in opposition to God and to his Word. It is to willfully trample on the standards of the Lord.
2. Against the Spirit’s work
Gossip is opposed to every aspect of the fruit of the Spirit as described in Galatians 5.22-23.
It is against love, for it is an act of unkindness, even of hostility.
It is against joy, because it destroys the happiness not only of the victim, but of the whole church, producing a complaining, vindictive spirit.
It is against peace (or unity), because it creates suspicion, fostering a critical atmosphere, and the setting of one against another.
It is against longsuffering, pouncing on every perceived misdemeanour, and creating a spirit of judgemental intolerance.
It is against gentleness, being vicious, spiteful and hurtful, and possessing an insatiable appetite for ‘offenders’ to devour.
It is against goodness, which refers to a magnanimous, generous, helpful spirit. Gossip gives no quarter and shows no leniency. Far from giving the benefit of the doubt, or helping the criticised person to recover, it moves in for the kill, and destroys the victim’s character and reputation.
It is against faith, which in this text means faithfulness or loyalty. Loyalty is the first casualty of gossip. The gossiping, backstabbing person feels and shows absolutely none.
It is against meekness, or humility, because gossips feel no need to be certain of the facts, nor are they inhibited by any sense of their own sinfulness. They are quite perfect in their own eyes. Philippians 2.3 tells us that ‘lowliness of mind’ leads people to esteem others better than themselves. Gossip is the opposite of this.
Gossip is against every tenet and feature of Christian character, and renders sanctification impossible. It is against the improvement of the people it criticises, and it is against the spiritual growth of the gossips themselves.
It is against temperance, or self-control, because gossips cannot contain themselves. They make no attempt to hold back their words, even though their habit is obviously evil, vicious, cowardly, and cruelly damaging.
What a sin this is, to be capable of blighting every single bloom of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers and in the life of the church! Who would be a gossip?
3. Against the whole church
Gossip is an act of hatred not only toward those criticised, but toward the whole fellowship of God’s people. It lays an axe to the root of brotherly love and union. Once its fever spreads, the words of James become true. ‘And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.’
Gossip, it must be remembered, is two diseases, not one. It is a disease of the mouth and a disease of the ears. The gossiper is not the sole offender. Every gossip inflicts guilt on a number of listeners. They receive the sin, perhaps relishing and enjoying it, making it their own. Their hearts are hardened toward the victim, and they so often become ‘tellers’ in their turn. To gossip is as treacherous as recruiting another person to lie or steal or cheat. It is against the victims, the hearers, and ultimately the whole church.
4. Against truth
Gossip is against truth, in every sense of the word. First, it is against biblical Truth, because it takes the hearts and interests of people away from spiritual food, diverting them to earthly ‘scandal’. Wherever gossip is popular, believers lose their absorbing passion for the Word of God. ‘For whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal?’ (1 Corinthians 3.3.) Could there be any greater tragedy than the sight of once keen Christians who now go to God’s house only to hear morsels of rumor and innuendo?
Gossip is also against truth in the sense that it is usually largely dishonest. It clutches hold of accusations and reports against others, and retells them without any attempt to check or verify the truth. Not only does gossip omit to check the facts, it invariably states them in the worst possible light, and embellishes and exaggerates them.
The untruthfulness of gossip does not stop there. It operates behind its victim’s back, concealing all sign of its activity. Should the victim bump into the gossip, forced, hypocritical smiles of friendliness hide the deed.
Furthermore, gossips often feign a reluctance to speak about their victim, and make the untrue claim that they do so only out of concern for the ‘offender’. The gossip thus becomes an actor or actress, but the whole performance is an appalling lie, and God sees. In every way, gossip is the enemy of truth.
5. Against order
Gossip is also disorderly, riding roughshod over the proper procedures given by the Lord for dealing with offences and misbehaviour in the church. For personal offences the Lord commands a personal approach, carried out in a right spirit (with meekness). For other offences pastors and other officers have been given to the churches, with clear and sensitive directions for overseeing the discipline and shepherding of the flock. For serious offences there is a revealed sequence of steps, including pleadings and warnings, and, for certain cases, even exclusion.
Gossips, however, think they can dispense with pastors, officers, and the Lord’s appointed steps of inquiry and discipline. What authority do gossips have to despise all the Lord’s provisions, to vaunt instead themselves and their judgement, and take the ‘law’ into their own hands?
Viewed from God’s perspective, gossiping combines arrogance with disobedience, and violates the proper procedures of the church which alone bring about justice and restoration.
6. Against the Gospel
Finally, gossip is against the Gospel, because it steals from people their compassion and zeal for the souls of others, and also grieves away the Holy Spirit, so that powerful, soul-saving work is hindered. ‘Where envying and strife is,’ says Scripture, ‘there is confusion and every evil work.’ Envying and strife is ‘not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish’ (James 3.14-16).
Do we indulge in gossiping? To see the ugliness of it and its effect upon the church ought surely to make us think, and put us off. We must neither speak gossip, nor listen to it.
Should We Expose a Gossip?
C.H. Spurgeon gave valuable counsel on how to subdue gossip. When someone comes to you with a string of complaints about another, he advises that we ask that person to put it all in writing. The perpetrator of gossip will not usually do this because it signals openness and truthfulness.
Supposing we know that serious gossip is circulating, injuring its victims and damaging the church fellowship. And supposing we cannot ourselves confront the gossips, for some reason. Should we tell a church officer, perhaps the pastor? Should we ‘report’ the matter? Would this be a case of gossiping about the gossip?
The answer is, that it would be our duty to God and the church. When there were troubles in the church at Corinth, members of Chloe’s family told Paul, and he challenged the church. This was done in clear obedience to the rule of Christ, who said that when offences arise which cannot be solved between individuals, we must ‘tell it unto the church’ (Matthew 18.17).
A gossip is both a terrorist and a wounded person. If we saw a seriously injured individual bleeding in the street, would we not call an ambulance? If we saw a terrorist planting a bomb on our church premises, would we not raise the alarm? It would be very wrong not to do so, and to protect a gossip is just as bad.
Satan has at some time whispered into the ear of every believer a commandment of his own invention. We hear, and in our foolishness we may accept it. We may even give it pride of place above all the true commandments of the Lord. One of Satan’s pseudo-commandments emerged in the language of nineteenth-century British public schools. It was – ‘Don’t peach!’ sometimes rendered, ‘Never rat on the cad!’ In other words, it is dishonourable to tell on anyone, no matter what he has done.
What a strange morality! Even though he does despicable things, we must never give him away, for it is our duty to give him our total support and protection. We must never betray him to the authorities.
If Christian people keep no other commandment, they will often cling to this pseudo-commandment of Satan. ‘I am sorry, Pastor,’ they will say, ‘but I cannot breathe the name of the person who is doing this terrible thing. It would not be right!’ Satan must have taken evil delight many a time to see his counterfeit morality guiding Christians to protect sinful conduct, including gossiping. If the high crime of gossip breaks out and proceeds to injure a fellowship, it is time for members to talk to the elders of their church, so that reproof, if necessary, along with reformation, may be accomplished in the way the Lord has prescribed.
‘Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings’ (1 Peter 2.1).
‘Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice’ (Ephesians 4.31).
‘Nor revilers…shall inherit the kingdom of God’ (1 Corinthians 6.10).