29 Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or WORTHLESS talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but ONLY such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and GIVE GRACE (God’s favor) to those who hear it.

30 And DO NOT grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him]…

31 Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).

Ephesians 4:29-31

After reading Sparkling Gems today with my family (a devotional book written by Rick Renner), I was blown away by not only the meaning of the word “gossip” but its implications on the lives of Christians and the heart of God.
Gossip in the Greek (Phaulos) means something that stinks or is rotting.  It gives the depiction of meat being eaten by maggots…
Not a pretty picture.
Gossiping brings with it the idea of corrupt communication and with this evil talk comes a pain to the very Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit has feelings and they are hurt when we make a decision to speak death over those in the body of Christ….no matter how valid our point may seem.
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul puts gossiping alongside these other detrimental sins…Debates, Wraths, Envyings, Strifes, Backbiting, Whisperings, Swellings, and Tumults.
Debates, in the Greek (Eris), has to do with DIVISION; it gives the idea of one who divides a body…a family…or a Church.  It’s that destructive spirit that often creeps in causing unity to be lost over silly political frivolities.
Wraths, when it is used in this verse, depicts a person that cannot contain himself and flares up with anger suddenly!  He loses all control because of an unresolved deep seeded offense that he can cover no longer.
An equally detrimental cousin to gossiping is the sin of creating Strife (Aritheia).
Strife illustrates someone who is so selfish and so self-focused that he thinks of only achieving whatever it is he desires.  No one else has a need or want greater than this Striving Man and he will get what he wants even at the cost of dividing a church or a family….
This one shook my world a bit when I read the explanation.
The fact that someone could be so cold-hearted as to purposefully hurt others to find his own peace, seems so foreign to me….and yet…I have done this myself.
And…I have seen it countless times within the family of God.
How often do we as believers simply repeat what we have heard not thinking or honestly caring about the consequences our words may have on someone else’s life or reputation?
The answer is…Far too often!
And to the One Who knows us best, it is simply NOT OK.
Now on to the step-brother to Gossip, Backbiting…
We all unfortunately know this term a bit too well.
To Backbite (Katalalia in the Greek) is to slander or to speak derogatorily about another person.  Backbiting is what those “mean girls” in high school did to the Gothic Freshman behind her back.
It’s Damaging.  It’s Malicious.  And It’s a Lie.
A picture of this would be that time Jenny Sue told everyone that Tina missed Church for two weeks because she is lazy and thinks she can get a better sermon watching Joel Osteen on the Big Screen… when in reality Tina cannot always make service because she is working three jobs to pay off her Father’s medical bills.
Does this remind you of a conversation you had last Sunday?  Or maybe just one you overheard, but believed…
Jenny Sue took a part of the Truth and added her own little spin to things…
To reiterate…
This is NOT OK!
Moving on…
Whisperings…(Psithurismos)
This may seem self explanatory, but a Whisperer is a gossip who not only spouts half truths to others, but is crafty enough to know how and when to tell these lies;  this whisperer spreads his “story” in the dark, in secret and very quietly…
Why?
Because to tell a half-truth (and be aware that you are doing it) you must be ‘smart’ about how it is told; you must be cunning and manipulate situations so that those listening never become aware of the fact that half of what you have spoken was created in your own mind.  Having full knowledge that he is lying, he tells the story over and over and over again to the point he completely believes his own deceits.
Seem devious enough for you?
Does it make you question this person’s salvation a little?
This deception happens all the time….in Church…by people who love Jesus…
There is More…
When you are a Gossip, you Swell up!  Swelling in the Greek (Phusiosis) depicts a person who is filled with pride, is puffed up about something that actually has little importance, is arrogant, and believes he is simply better than other people.
Enough said.
Last of all and most shocking in my opinion is Akatastasia or TUMULTS.  The gossip not only debates, envys, wraths, strifes, backbites, whispers, and swells.  He also tumults, meaning he creates anarchy, chaos, and insubordination.
The Greek depiction of this is someone who creates a DANGEROUS DISTURBANCE!  As in, there were calm waters, but this person decided to stir it up a bit and make some serious issues for those around him.  The definition is a person who has an attitude or performs an action that “creates upheaval and unrest and INSTABILITY.”
Ummmm…Wow!
Why would someone do that?  How does it make any sense to see peace and then purposely destroy it with your own words???
The fact is, none of these depictions of a Gossip make any sense.  Why would anyone intentionally cause pain and hurt to those they know and even love?
There is no good reason for it, that is why we must fight against -not the illogical thought processes of a Whisperer- but that selfish tendency that wars within us screaming “I MUST get what I want!”
TELL YOUR FLESH TO SHUT UP!
Since when has it led you in the right direction?
Truth is, we are humans.  We mess up.  We hurt people and we hurt ourselves…
What’s the solution?
Well, for starters…become that person that gracefully walks away when “gossip” is being passed around like a note in Math class.
Better yet, stand up for those who are being wrongfully put down.  Your opinion does not really matter, but TRUTH ALWAYS MATTERS!
God is Light!
As a child of God we have a right…. a responsibility… to SHED LIGHT wherever we can.
Decide to take no part in unrighteousness.  Be honest and tell yourself, “it’s true that I would love to hear what happened to thus and so, but because it GRIEVES THE HOLY SPIRIT…I CHOOSE right now to walk away.”
Period.
Catch the Wave,
Victoria