Gossip

Sharing the News NOT Worth Sharing


“Never go to a doctor whose office plants

have died.”

Erma Bombeck


“All of us have moments in our lives that test our courage. Taking children

into a house with a white carpet is one of

them.”Erma Bombeck


“I take a very practical view of raising children.

I put a sign in each of their rooms: 'Checkout

Time is 18 years.'”

Erma Bombeck


“If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared

legally dead.”

Erma Bombeck


“Don't confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is

the other.”

Erma Bombeck


“Some say our national pastime is

baseball. Not me. It's gossip.”

Erma Bombeck


Gossip in the Workplace •15% occasionally gossip•86% gossip regarding corporate challenges•Each gossip session averages 15 minutes•21% regularly gossip at work•An active gossiper burns 65 hours of productivity per year


First Point

God has hard-wired us to share news!


God gave us our ability to speakThe LORD said to him, "Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

Exodus 4:11 NIV


Speaking brings us joy

A person finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word!

Proverbs 15:23


Speaking is one of the key ways we build intimacy and trust

Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and wealth to the body.

Proverbs 16:24


Speaking is an essential tool for sharing God’s Good NewsHow then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? Romans 10:14


Jesus called His disciples to Speak Up!

What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

Matthew 10:27


Sir Winston Churchill -

1955



Second Point

The news you choose to share is a reflection of your

heart!


Matthew 1510And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”


Matthew 1512Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”


Matthew 15

13He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”


Context: Mt. 15:1-2 (NIV)1Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”


“Al Netilat Yadayim”Washing of Hands


Yadaim (Hands)

“If a man poured water over the one hand with a single rinsing, his hand is clean; but if over both hands with a single rinsing, Rabbi Meir declares them unclean unless he pours over them a quarter-log (2 cups) or more. (M Yadaim 2:1)


Matthew 15

“15But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16And he said, “Are you also still without understanding?


Matthew 1517Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.


3 Lessons

1. He is teaching them about His authority which supersedes that of the Pharisees.

2. He is teaching them the difference between dead orthodoxy and living faith.

3. He is teaching them that the words we speak reveal the spiritual condition of our “heart.”


Matthew 1519For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”



Third Point

Choosing Not to Share News NOT Worth Sharing Breaks the

Cycle of Destruction.


James 3

5How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.


Proverbs 16:28

A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.


Proverbs 6:16-19There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.


Proverbs 26:20

For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no

whisperer, quarreling ceases.


“Live in such a way that you would not be afraid to sell your parrot to the

town gossip.”

Will Rogers



Anonymous Quote

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”


Presentations & Public Speaking

Gossip