On gossip and eavesdropping

DAILY BIBLE READING:

Ecclesiastes 7: 1– 9: 18 
2 Corinthians 7: 8-16 
Psalm 48: 1-14 
Proverbs 22: 17-19

TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Ecclesiastes 7:21–22 (NLT) "Don't eavesdrop on others – you may hear your servant curse you. But you know how often you yourself as cursed others."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Let's cut right to the chase. What Solomon said in our Verse for Todaywouldn't even be necessary if gossip didn't exist. If "servants" didn't gossip about their "masters," and vice versa, there would be no need for these two verses.

The fact of the matter is that people do gossip. They do talk badly about others behind their back. They do say bad things to others that they don't have the compassionate courage to say to the one they are talking about.

So, these verses become necessary.

Essentially, we are instructed not to eavesdrop from around the corner. We are forbidden to listen in on other people's phone calls. We are forbidden to browse through someone's emails when they accidentally left their account open on a public computer. 

Why?

Because we live in a sinful world and you just might realize that others are talking badly about you.

(Principal: Others don't talk about us nearly as much as we think they do.)

There is humility in these verses, though. The writer says that we shouldn't be so quick to condemn others when we hear that they are talking about us behind our backs. Why? Because we have probably done the same thing. We are not innocent, either. 

So what is the answer?

When you are talking about someone:

• Try to say only those things that you wouldn't be ashamed to say if the person you're talking about walked into the room during the conversation.
• Apologize to the offended person if they come to realize that you have gossiped about them.
• When you were talking about someone else, make sure that the purpose is constructive in this for the purpose of identifying and fixing a problem.
• Talk only to those people who need to know or could be helpful in solving the problem.

When others are talking about you or someone else:

• If it is a small thing, let it go. Forget it. Some fires are so small that they quickly burn themselves out.
• If it is an ongoing problem or the words are very distructive in nature, (they do not fit the criteria listed above,) then hold that person accountable for their words. Tell them that what they are doing is wrong and they must stop. Confront them in love and be quick to acknowledge your own failures, but hold them accountable for what they have said or are saying.
• Gossip is such a big deal that if the offender continues in the sin, then pursue the steps found in Matthew 18:15–17.

Gossip is not a small thing and directly undermines the unity that Jesus desires for his church (John 17:20–23). Don't tolerate it in yourself or in others.