Deadly Sins New and OldSample

Gossip

In the age of Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, how can you not talk about each other? People are pouring out an immense gusher of information about themselves because they want other people to know what they’re doing.

There’s a good way and a bad way to talk about friends. St. Paul gave his young pastoral advisee Timothy some insightful advice about how to manage his congregations: “They get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to” (1 Timothy 5:13). So when does sharing news become gossip?
• When it’s not true
• When it betrays a confidence that you hold in trust
• When it digs up an old sin that has been repented of
• When it damages someone’s ability to get a job or keep a friend
• When bad news is shared maliciously, for revenge or to tear someone down
• When you enjoy someone else’s misfortune.

Here’s a better way: “Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).