Friday Read: The Gossip That Kills

Picture the early church in Corinth around 55 AD. This wasn't a peaceful suburban congregation—it was a messy collection of former pagans, slaves, merchants, and social outcasts learning to follow Jesus together. Conflicts erupted regularly. Sexual immorality scandals. Theological disagreements. Personality clashes. And just like today, people talked. A lot. They shared "prayer requests" that were really gossip sessions. They expressed "concerns" that were character assassinations. They divided into factions, each claiming spiritual superiority while destroying unity. Paul's response was surgical: "I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you" (1 Corinthians 1:10).

Gossip is murder with words. It destroys reputations, fractures relationships, and kills church unity more effectively than any external attack. James compares the tongue to a fire that "sets on fire the entire course of life, and is set on fire by hell" (James 3:6). That's not hyperbole—it's diagnosis. When we spread rumors, share unverified information, or discuss people's failures for entertainment, we're partnering with the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10) to tear down what Christ died to build up.

The Hebrew word for gossip literally means "whisperer"—secret communication intended to damage someone's standing in the community. Proverbs 16:28 warns that "a whisperer separates close friends." Social media has industrialized this ancient sin, allowing us to destroy people's reputations with a click, to share opinions without accountability, and to pile on condemnation from the safety of our screens. We call it "calling out" or "speaking truth," but often it's just old-fashioned malice in religious clothing.

Jesus gave us a different way: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone" (Matthew 18:15). Not your small group. Not your spouse. Not social media. Him. Directly. Privately. With the goal of restoration, not destruction. Paul echoes this: "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness" (Galatians 6:1). The goal is healing, not harm.

When someone shares juicy information about another person's failures, do you listen eagerly or redirect the conversation toward prayer and restoration? How often do you talk about people versus talking to them? What relationships in your life have been damaged by your words or the words of others? The church should be the one place on earth where reputations are protected, not destroyed—where we cover each other's shame rather than exposing it for sport.