Is gossip judging

[chriscomplex]

The world has become full of gossiping, Christianity not excluded.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

The world has become full of gossiping, Christianity not excluded.

Gossiping is one of the works of the flesh described in Galatians 5. If a person is a compulsive gossip, they are seen as the same as a murderer or an adulterer or anything else on that list. Therefore professing believers who are compulsive gossips need to examine themselves to see if they are really in the faith or whether they have just "got religion" instead of being truly converted to Christ.

None of us are perfect people. We all fail to achieve the perfect standard of holiness, but converted believers are developing sanctification day by day. This means that where a person is still trapped in the works of the flesh to some degree, the Holy Spirit is making them aware of it, and they are paying and seeking God for His help to overcome the problem. A religious hypocrite is not like that. They will hide their sin and try to justify their behaviour and give excuses for their continued willful sin. Genuine believers will not try and give excuses but will be continually praying, "God forgive me a sinner." A compulsive gossip is more like the self-righteous pharisee who prayed alongside the publican in the temple, and is a self-righteous person who has a "holier than thou" attitude to all those who do not appear as perfect as they think they are. Jesus called such people, "whited sepulchres that look good on the outside, but are full of dead men's bones."

 

[W2L]

Gossip is pride. If we were truly humbled in this world we wouldn't gossip.

 

[Fabric lover]

Oy vey, gossip is the main form of entertainment in this town. It's "Well, bless your heart!" while the person is present but as soon as they leave, the ripping and shredding begin. Someone actually came to me to advise me that if I thought I wasn't being talked about, I was wrong. So I quit visiting with the neighbors. I'm lonely, but now I don't have to listen to them use God's name in vain and hear frequent foul language.
When I complain about this and other questionable things that go on here, I'm told that I have to understand, this is a small town.
I can't wait to get back to civilization (the city) where people are so busy living their lives they don't have time for or interest in gossip.

 

[JingshenBianxi]

To answer the initial question of the thread which is..

Is gossiping judging?

Not all gossiping is judging cause some gossip could be gossip of some one else's BLESSINGS. By definition gossiping is simply the information about the behavior or personal lives of another. I could gossip about a friend of mine to another by simply exposing some GOOD NEWS.

Hypothetical Me: George, man, I got some news for you! You know my friend, Chad?
Hypothetical Friend: Yea, what about him?
Hypothetical Me: Dude, I just got word from the horse's mouth that he is about to get MARRIED TO SUSAN!!
Hypothetical Friend: Susan?! The Susan?!
Hypothetical Me: Yes, The Susan from high school that all the guys wanted. He's marrying her. She said yes and everything. Isn't that something?!
Hypothetical Friend: Yea...that is something!
Hypothetical Me: Don't tell him I told you..

This sort of gossiping does happen more often than highlighted.
We tend to focus on the negative gossiping but undermine the gossip that we deem " not gossip " simply because it's POSITIVE or GOOD INFORMATION.

Sorry folks but um....it's still gossip.

 

[crossnote]

Pssst, Can you pray for SO-and-so?
Why?
Well, let me tell you! Yesterday I heard...

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Pssst, Can you pray for SO-and-so, Why? Well, let me tell you! Yesterday I heard...

Yes. That seems to be a very common way of spreading gossip . I belonged to a church once where if anyone went to any of the elders for counselling, the details were common knowledge around the church in a very short space of time. It was because those elders shared the details with their wives, who went around talking to each other about them; and sometimes because of Chinese whispers, once the details got to the end of the line, they were quite different from the original! Consequently, when I needed counselling, instead of going to one of the elders, I went to an outside professional Christian counsellor whom I knew was professionally obliged to keep my details strictly confidential.

 

[crossnote]

I can't wait to get back to civilization (the city) where people are so busy living their lives they don't have time for or interest in gossip.

Having lived in a large city most of my life, I find the city natives are too alienated to gossip except when they meet in small social groups...like Church.