Bible: 5 Poetic Books

Lesson 5: The Book of Proverbs: Teach Me, Grasshopper!

Wisdom concerning GOSSIP

Want to get someone's attention? Just tell them what's up with the life of the latest celebrity. Who were they with? What shocking secret did a national tabloid reveal about them? Who was that GUY in the photo with HER?

You know the kind of stories I'm talking about. The media feed on them, add to them, and serve them up to a hungry audience. It's always easy for us to think, "Whew! Thank goodness that's not happening to me. Thank God I'm not that person. Just think of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee was quick to say how thankful he was for not being a tax collector; the tax collector was just thankful for the chance to enter into a relationship with God. Despite the religious knowledge of the Pharisee, it’s the tax collector who had the right attitude and who had been humble enough to listen to guidance and find a new direction in life.

Let's see a few of the words of wisdom found in proverbs about gossiping:

Proverbs 11 13 A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.

[This again is related to friends and family. Choose your friends carefully. If they turn, they will surely have ammunition to use against you in the future. Gossips can cause much damage, especially ones you previously counted as close friends. ]

Proverbs 16 28 A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.

[Life is not a competition. If you have to have all eyes on you, and you can't share the world with others, it's better to be a hermit. At least then, you'll have no one to influence negatively with your attitude. Muckrakers sell newspapers, but they don't make great friends.… Try to surround yourself with positive people who understand the importance of God in their life.]

Proverbs 18 8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts.

[We love to "eat up" the latest gossip. Before we do that, however, we must consider the source and the extent to which it has been embellished to sell newspapers or magazines. Even if every word is true, we must guard ourselves against judging others, for their is only one judge--God--and if he looks closely at our own lives, there is much to be critical about.]

Proverbs 20 19 A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.

[Again, non-stop talkers are not thinkers. They say whatever comes into their mind at the moment, and worry about the consequences later.]

ASSIGNMENT:

You've seen some of the words and images used in Proverbs about gossip. Some of them deal with food imagery. Think of people's favorite foods--how bad they usually are for health, how addictive they can be, how sweet they seem now, regardless of the potential cavities later.

Use that metaphor, and write a poem called,

GOSSIP DIET

Have fun!

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