"I have made you an assayer and a tester among My people, That you may know and assay their way. All of them are stubbornly rebellious, going about as a talebearer..." (Jer.6:27-28)
Notice how gossip/talebearing is linked to rebellion against God in Scripture. We tend to think of it quite lightly, as an "innocent" sin. God views it as rebellion against Him because it undermines His work.
"Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell." (James 3:3-6)
How destructive the tongue can be! "See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!" Every time we murmur (or repeat someone's murmuring), every time we complain (or listen to someone complain), every time we participate in gossip as either the speaker or the listener ... the fire spreads. See how easily God's work can be destroyed! Instead of building up and biblically loving another (1Thess.5:11), we tear them down. Instead of promoting unity within a body of believers (Eph.4:1-3), we tear apart God's work. Jesus said the sins of the mouth originate in the heart. "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person." (Mt.15:18-19) So the heart is where our attention must go. We need to take the sins of the tongue as seriously as God does, so that we might also help other believers take them seriously!
[Cartoon from The Doghouse Diaries]
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