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Not long ago, a coworker crept into my office and quietly closed my door. Judging by the look on her face, I knew she was about to give me the latest scoop on something big. She began to divulge some unsavory details about a person whom I'd always thought was happily married. But apparently this colleague had been involved in multiple covert affairs.
I was shocked by this revelation—and should have ended the conversation then and there. But unfortunately, I didn't. My eyes grew big as saucers as my coworker began naming names. But what was so titillating in the moment has left me full of regret. Now I'm faced with some very negative information about a person I once admired. And I don't even know if the accusations are true!
Gossip—that chatty talk about other people's intimate matters—is a favorite pastime around many office lunch tables and water coolers. If asked point-blank, most of us would say gossip is a bad habit, yet our culture treats it lightly. Everyday we can access websites, watch television shows, or read tabloids to get the latest scandal scoop on celebrities and politicians. Some websites even send you an e-mail alert on late-breaking gossip. In our voyeuristic world of reality TV, being privy to intimate details of a person's life is socially acceptable.
But while we may innocently "dish," "get the goods," or hear "the dirt" on someone, God doesn't take gossip lightly. He says our tongues are set on fire by hell (James 3:6). He commands us not to gossip. For example, Proverbs 4:24 reminds us to keep corrupt talk from our lips. And God doesn't want us listening to gossip, either. Hearing gossip is about as bad as spreading it, since you can't erase the negative words you've heard about a person. Proverbs 26:22 says, "The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts."
GOSSIP JUST PLAIN HURTSSimply put, gossip hurts people. When my dearest friend and coworker went through a divorce, many of our colleagues came to me for information. It was the "juiciest" story to rock my office in a long time. Married only six months, my friend's husband moved to another country, came back for a day to file for divorce, and then left again. Discussing her hurt and raw emotions with others seemed unthinkable. Furthermore, I ran the risk of circulating rumors. Human resources specialist Cassie Dibiase, owner of Resources and Results Consulting in Houston, Texas, points out, "Think back to the playground, when someone spread untrue tales around the schoolyard. They were hurtful, unproductive, and damaged friendships. Playground rules still apply. The only difference is professional reputations are taken more seriously, and the stakes are higher."
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