“I’m telling you stuff I wouldn’t tell anyone else. I would appreciate you not sharing it. I’m not one to spread rumors.”
That was from the guy behind Cheryl and me at a ball game recently. Loud talker guy.
I thought to myself, “That’s exactly how rumors start.”
In fact, I probably should have said…
“No. You would never spread a rumor. But, you will talk loud enough for everyone around you to hear what you are sharing. About someone. That you probably had no business sharing…even if you were a soft talker. ”
They discussed business, politics and the church. No bases were left untouched. And people were trashed with no opportunity to defend themselves.
But don’t worry loud talker. I’m safe. I won’t share anymore about Bob and all his problems with Tim or what a low life Wayne is because of the way he’s treated Sam.
You’re “non rumors” are safe with me.
(Names have been changed to protect the accused guilty.).
Moral of the story here. And, it applies to all of us…even pastors and bloggers.
Rumors spread because people share them.
And, I’m not angry, even if I sound like I am. Especially not at loud talker. Sadly, he was being no different than many of our conversations. He was just loud enough to get caught. (But, he should lower his voice. 🙂 )
This guy didn’t necessarily anger me. Individually, he would have almost been funny…if it weren’t such a serious issue.
You see, I’ve seen the damage rumors cause. I’ve witnessed individual’s reputations destroyed by rumors. I’ve known rumors to divide a church. Satan uses rumors to spread lies.
So, rumors anger me. It’s sin. Shouldn’t it anger us all? And, at some level we can all be guilty.
Let’s do our part to stop the spread. And, the way to do that is not to share them.
You may now want to read 7 Ways to Stop Gossip or listen to my sermon message on addressing gossip HERE.
Excellent article and needful thoughts expressed here. Sadly the internet is one of the biggest places for such accusations and hurtful things being shared amongst co-workers in the gospel.
thanks for this post. in the church false rumors is a real problem.
Rumors also spread because information that should be made public is kept secret. I'm not defending the rumor mill here, but sometimes we try so hard to protect our pride and our image that we creating an opening for rumor and gossip.
Good reminder. I would still say the rumors spread themselves are wrong. Sin is still sin regardless of the open doors created for it, but recognizing the cause is good. In your equation there would be sin on two sides. Thanks!