What Is Gossip?

00:00:05.000 | Robert in Peachtree City, Georgia asks, "What is the biblical definition of gossip?"

00:00:12.000 | This is good for me to think about. I hate gossip, and I wasn't even sure how to define it.

00:00:17.000 | That's very dangerous, isn't it? So Romans 1, "They're full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.

00:00:24.000 | They are gossips, slander." So you see the context of it. Deceit, maliciousness, slander.

00:00:30.000 | It's really ugly, and it's right in there with things that hurt people.

00:00:35.000 | Same thing in 2 Corinthians 12. "They may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit."

00:00:45.000 | So there it is, back to back with slander again. So gossip is something hurtful.

00:00:50.000 | It's something that damages community, damages people.

00:00:55.000 | Same thing again in 1 Timothy 5. Besides that, he's talking about some women in the church at that time

00:01:04.000 | were going about from house to house, not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies.

00:01:11.000 | And there you hear the fact that it seems to be the kind of thing that you just fall into

00:01:17.000 | when you don't have anything better to do.

00:01:20.000 | So here are a couple of things that seem to mark what gossiping is.

00:01:25.000 | Number one, a negative spirit that is more bent on hurting than helping.

00:01:31.000 | Gossip is not something that's really redemptive.

00:01:35.000 | "I just want to help. I want to do good, so I'm going to gossip."

00:01:39.000 | But it is deceptive. There are people who can deceive themselves into thinking they're doing good

00:01:45.000 | by chattering away about somebody and saying, "Well, no, let's pray for that."

00:01:49.000 | And what they really are is getting pleasure out of the sharing of the negative news.

00:01:54.000 | And the other thing is it's an excessive interest in affairs that belong to others.

00:01:58.000 | It's just not our business. Paul calls them busybodies.

00:02:02.000 | They're intruding themselves where they don't belong.

00:02:06.000 | And I would add a third thing from my own experience. There's a kind of pride.

00:02:11.000 | I just know this from myself. I think John Piper's pride is what makes him savor that I know something

00:02:22.000 | somebody else doesn't know. I know it, and I can tell you.

00:02:26.000 | And I feel in the know, which kind of elevates me a little bit.

00:02:30.000 | So I think it's pride at the root of that.

00:02:33.000 | So there's a negative spirit that's not helpful or loving or kind.

00:02:38.000 | There's an excessive interest in the busybody affairs of others.

00:02:42.000 | And then there's this pride. So here's the way I would define it.

00:02:45.000 | And I get part of this right out of the dictionary of the Greek term for this.

00:02:52.000 | Derogatory information about someone that you have that is shared with others

00:03:02.000 | and a tone of confidentiality that is not motivated by doing good to them

00:03:08.000 | and that you are enjoying in a way that shows your heart is not humble.

00:03:15.000 | And the remedy for that kind of gossip is love.

00:03:19.000 | Love for the person, love for the church and her unity, love for Jesus,

00:03:24.000 | whose fellowship is sweet enough so you don't need to have all the titillation

00:03:29.000 | that comes from these unclean pleasures of spreading negative information.

00:03:35.000 | So it seems gossip is not limited to false statements, right?

00:03:38.000 | It seems like gossip can be spreading true information as well.

00:03:42.000 | It can be true, but it's almost always negative.

00:03:48.000 | It's almost always our scuttlebutt.

00:03:52.000 | But yeah, it may be true.

00:03:54.000 | The fact that you're telling the truth doesn't mean you're not gossiping.

00:03:58.000 | Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you for listening to this podcast.

00:04:01.000 | Email your questions to us at AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org

00:04:04.000 | and visit us online at DesiringGod.org to find thousands of free books, articles, sermons,

00:04:08.000 | and other resources from John Piper.

00:04:10.000 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke. Thanks for listening.

00:04:12.000 | [end]

00:04:14.000 | [music]

00:04:16.000 | [music]

00:04:18.000 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

What Is Gossip?

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