The New Testament Greek word for "gossip" (psithuristes,
Rom 1:29) is literally "a whisperer" -- a person who whispers behind your back with the intention of hurting you. The Greek scholar Godet describes a gossiper as someone who pours out his poison by whispering in our ears. With the telephone, we don't even have to whisper behind people's backs. We just badmouth them over the phone without their knowing. With the advent of E-mail, gossip spews forth through the Internet onto the computers in our homes and work places.
The Bible links gossip and slander together as sister sins (
Rom 1:29-30). The New Testament word "slander" (katalalos) means "to speak evil of someone." When we gossip, we speak evil about people; we badmouth them. The King James Version describes people who gossip and slander people as "backbiters" (
cf. Rom 1:30). When we badmouth someone with gossip, we bite them behind their backs, whether the gossip is true or not. All too often we can be like Dennis the Menace who whispered in his neighbor's ear, "Now listen good. I can only tell you this once 'cause my Dad told me not to repeat it."
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I. The Origin of Gossip
Gossip is like a tasty morsel that we like to hear. The question is: Where does gossip originate? In a number of scripture passages, the Lord informs us about the origins of gossip so that we will avoid it.
Gossip is fueled by hell's flames
Gossip is one of Satan's fiery arrows that he shoots at us and entices us to shoot at others. The Lord doesn't mince words in
James 3:6 when he tells us about the origin of the sins of the tongue: "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."
The flames of hell ignite gossip. Satan is behind all gossip, either directly or indirectly. When we listen to gossip, we give the devil a foothold in our lives. When we speak gossip, we're speaking as Satan wants us to speak. As the old saying goes, "A gossiper is the devil's postman."
Gossip originates from the evil in our hearts
In
Luke 6:45 Jesus tells us, "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." Jesus tells us that our words reveal what is in our hearts. Gossip comes from a heart full of evil. Insults come from a heart full of evil. Criticism comes from a heart full of evil. When we allow our sinful natures to control our hearts, evil fills our souls, and evil spews out of mouths.