Christianity Uncensored: Gossip Uncensored

Series: Christianity Uncensored
Message #4: Gossip Uncensored
By: Jud Wilhite



We do live in a culture that loves dirty laundry. It’s spun all around us. We see it in all kinds of things. In particular we see it in the lines at the supermarkets when we look at these little things called tabloids. We see headlines about woodpeckers that kill thousands, aliens that are abducted, a new Elvis Presley sighting. I thought to kick us off on this subject we’d do a little supermarket tabloid test. I’m going to put five tabloid headlines on the screen. I want you to determine which one of them is an actual tabloid headline. Ready?



Number one: Two hundred forty pound baby signed by New Zealand football team. Number two: Wolf boy abducts neighbor’s dog. It was our honeymoon! Number three: Two hundred foot Jesus appears in Washington. Number four: Psychic feline moves objects with mind. And number five: Vasectomy reduces chances of being abducted by aliens. In case you were wondering, there you have it. Talk amongst yourself and determine which supermarket tabloid headline is real? I hear lots of threes – you are right! Two hundred foot Jesus appears in Washington. Nice job. Apparently CNN missed that one. There is another tabloid that says they found Jesus’ sandal in Central park.



One more time – here is a few more. 1) World’s oldest woman thrives on lard and booze and probably lives in Vegas. 2) Exorcism cures monstrous zit. 3) Leprechaun ejected by casino. He’s too lucky! 4) Vampire poodles go on a bloody rampage. 5) Lincoln was a woman. Now as you look at this we’re yanking your chain just a little bit. The truth is, all five of these are actual tabloid headlines. Just for fun I thought we’d throw the fifth one up – Lincoln was a woman. There it is published in the World Weekly News. Then it says, “Was John Wilkes Booth her jilted lover?”



We live in a culture that’s inundated with tabloids and dirty laundry. There is all sorts of stuff flying around. There is gossip in our work places. People talk about other people. We spread hearsay and rumors. The rumor mill turns. Sometimes it’s hard to know. Even in conversations have you wondered, “Am I gossiping right now when I’m saying this? Is it gossip? Is it not gossip?” It can be a real challenge. One thing I’ve realized is that it’s hard to nail gossip down and to determine when you are doing it. But it’s always easy to tell when you are being gossiped about. Isn’t that the truth? You wonder “Is this gossip? Am I telling gossip?” But when you hear someone else talk about you, you know when you are being gossiped about. It bothers you in that sense.



I thought Rick Warren gave a great definition of gossip and how we know when we are gossiping. He said this, “When we are talking about a situation with somebody who is neither part of the problem or part of the solution, then we are probably gossiping.” When we are talking about a situation with someone who is neither part of the problem or the solution; I found that very helpful. Let’s say you are at work and you have employees that you work with, maybe you have a work situation and you have a conversation with your employee about another employee, maybe someone under you. How are you going to deal with a situation? Is that gossip? Not if it’s part of the problem or solution. You are trying to actually get