Gossip

Hello, and welcome to the Salt Church Podcast. Thank you for tuning in to this week's message. Join us as we explore God's Word providing practical teaching for day-to-day living. The message you are about to hear was recorded live at our Sunday morning worship experience. If you would like to learn more about Salt Church, please visit us at saltchurch.

org. We hope that you are encouraged by today's message. So, we are in the third part of a series called Crushing Kryptonite. Everybody knows the term Kryptonite. Probably, arguably, the most popular superhero in the world is Superman.

I know all of you have your opinions about what your favorite superhero is. Mine was not Superman. I was more of a Wolverine fan, and Hugh Jackman's kind of my man now. You know, I just saw him in The Greatest Showman, and I realized, man, this guy can dance and sing and do all this kind of stuff, but he's still a manly man. You know, he's got like that, those muscles and stuff like that, and I love that.

But Wolverine was always my character growing up, and I was also a Spider-Man fan. But Superman, as we know, had these supernatural powers. And it kind of relates to us as believers. We have a lot. We relate to Superman a whole lot.

Not only does he have these supernatural abilities, and Jesus, we have these supernatural abilities. God gifts us and endows us with supernatural power. He was not of this world. We are not of this world. He was empowered or given power by the sun, S-O-N.

We are given power by the S-O-N, right? Right? S-U-N, Superman, S-O-N, us. So we have a lot of similarities. But just like he had a weakness, we also have weakness.

And those things we try to avoid so that we can be strong, strong, and we can be powerful, and we can be a ministry, and have a great impact on the kingdom of God. And in fact, Paul talks about this weakness in 1 Corinthians 11 30. It says, and this is our theme verse, this is why many of you are weak, and many of you are sick, and some of you are even dying. And what was happening in the context of this situation was that there was sin being brought into the church. They were participating in the sacrament, the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, which is communion.

They were partaking of the blood of Jesus Christ through the pouring of the wine, and the breaking of bread, the body of Christ. Yet they were bringing in sin, and there were things happening in the fellowship. So not only does that affect us individually when we're involved, when we're dealing with the kryptonite that weakens our lives, the sin that comes into our lives, it cripples us, but it also infects the people around you, and it infects the church. Now, I'm not saying that because you have sin in your life, you're going to get sick, and the whole church is going to get sick, but there's a spiritual implication here that it's like a cancer, and when you bring that into your life, and when you bring that into the body, it can spread. So we want to crush the kryptonite, because Daniel says this in 11 32, the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits.

And I want to see you be a powerhouse, great exploits for the kingdom of God. We together can be unlimited, unbountful what we can do when we experience God fully and crush the kryptonite in our lives. So we've been talking about this kryptonite. In week one, we talked about lying, you know, how lying, and a lot of times these unnecessary, these are things that kind of creep in the back door. And lying is one of those things that creeps in the back door.

We don't even realize it. Last week, we dealt with pride, the pride that we often don't even know that's there. These little sins that creep in the back door. And this week, I'm going to talk about something that none of you deal with, because we're a good church, right? We don't do this.

We don't talk about other people. But for the sake of, you know, study, and talk, and what the Bible says about these sins that kind of creep in the back door, we're going to talk about gossip. Gossip. I know none of you do this. So we're, in Psalm, it says, search me, O God.

So I want us to kind of believe this there. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me, and know my anxious thoughts, and point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. So we can crush this kryptonite, this kryptonite of gossip. We, this is a hard one, I know.

We can, we can really, we can be empowered and move forward. So, so if you don't like this message, it's okay. You can go home and gossip about it later on, because I know it's a hard message, but today it's just really, this is really important message. And so how many of you have ever been talked about? How many of you have ever been misrepresented?

Yeah, yeah. And how many of you have, have, maybe it was back in high school, you know, somebody said something, or did something, and it misrepresented you, and it whispered throughout the whole school. The next thing you know, you're the center of what's going on, right? Or maybe it was at your workplace, you know, somebody said something about you that wasn't necessarily true. Or maybe you shared something with someone they weren't supposed to, to, to, to release, you know.

It was kind of secretive, and we were just talking, in confidence, we were talking about it, and maybe that got out, and it spread around. It's very painful. It's very painful when you're misrepresented. It's very painful when you're talked about. And I know everybody has probably been in those shoes at some point.

And I remember when I was in high school, there was a young girl who, who something happened in her life, but it was misrepresented. And the gossip went out about this young lady, and it was so devastating to her that she actually had to change schools as a result, because she just couldn't deal with what, what was said about her. I mean, gossip just, it can, it can hurt and destroy. And in my line of work, we just consider it a par for the course, because when you're a pastor, or you're leading a church, there's a lot of gossip out there about what you are, who you are, what you represent. And when we were back meeting again in the brewery, for those of you who, who, I'm talking a lot about the brewery today, there was a lot of talk about who we were, because we were right down the street from several different churches that were kind of like mainline denominations and stuff, and they didn't know what was going on.

This salt church, you know, there was flags. We weren't really doing a lot of marketing and advertising. We were just praying that people would show up. We would come in and just, is somebody going to show up today? Is somebody going to show up?

We had coffee set out downstairs in front of the, in front of the taps. And, and then there were these rumors going around, man, they have like, they party it up in their services. And, well, it's something, and then we had someone actually come to me one time, said, wanted to help us out. And he was talking to another friend about, about what, what salt church was doing in the community. And he says, you didn't, you're not joining that cult, are you?

You know? So there was, there's a lot of misconceptions that can be said, and it could be further from the truth. We were all about Jesus, and we still are centered on Jesus. No matter what our name says, or where we're located, or where we meet at, it's all about Jesus and what he's doing. We are centered on Jesus.

He's the lead pastor. We're just following his. But it's a very painful, it can be very painful, and you can be misrepresented. And gossip seems like one of those acceptable, necessary parts of life. Because everybody does it.

We all talk, you know. People talk. It's all around us. And for you, it might not seem like that big of a deal, you know. If everybody does it, why not?

But what is gossip, is the question. What is gossip? Rick Warren said this, when we are talking about a situation with somebody who is neither part of the problem or part of the solution, then we are probably gossiping. When you are neither part of the problem or part of the solution. Good gauge there.

I love that quote. Let's see what God says about it. What does God say about it? Well, in Proverbs 6, 16 and 19, he says, there are six things that the Lord hates. That's a pretty big word.

He hates. Seven that are detestable to him. And then he goes through the list of different things. And he comes to verse 19, he says, A false witness who pours out lies. A false witness who pours out lies.

And a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Does that sound familiar? Sounds like gossip to me. And I want you to see it this way. Here's another way to look at it.

Some of you have kids in here. And I was watching, Barbara Bush passed away this past week. She's probably one of the most respected first ladies that we've ever had in the White House. And just did some wonderful things. She was such a sweet lady.

And they were showing an interview on the news about George W. When she was having a discussion about George W., one of the people asked her, says, How do you feel, back when George was president, how do you feel when people talk about your son in these ways? She says, It just makes me upset. Because I know George.

I know who George is. I know what he's about. I know the real George. And what people talk about is not George. He's completely misrepresented.

And then she got like, she kind of leaned over to the camera. She says, And if anybody talks about George in front of me, they're going to get it. You know? They better talk behind my back. Because if they talk in front of me, it's on.

And God feels the same way about his children. And when we talk about his children, whether they're believers or not, God created these people. God created us. We are his children. And when we talk about his children, he's like, You better not talk about them in front of me.

And obviously we can't hide from God, right? So, that's how God sees gossip. He hates gossip. And there's something sickeningly attractive about gossip. We're attracted all the time.

I mean, we love gossip. Man, the tabloids. I mean, there's million dollar industries made on gossip, right? TMZ and Inquirer Magazine. All these things.

You know, you go through a shopping line and you see these magazines on the side and there's stuff. You can't help but stop and look at them, right? Look at the headlines. Tom Cruise did this this week. Man, I got to read that, you know?

And we're attracted. It's like an attractive thing. But why do we participate in gossip? Well, Proverbs 18.8 says this.

The words of a gossip are like choice morsels. They go down to the inmost parts. They're like good food. We just love it. We love it.

We like it to sink down. We just eat it up. It's exciting for us. And so, why do we practically like gossip? Well, perhaps it makes us feel important or we just enjoy the dirt.

We just want to know what's going on. We want to be in the end, you know? It makes us feel like, hey, I know what's going on. I know when I'm on the computer sometimes, for me, you know, you get those pop-ups like CNN and Fox News or whatever your flavor is. Or maybe it's just some kind of tabloid.

It says, so-and-so did that this week. And it's just so hard because I'm working and I'm like, man, I really want to see what happened this week. I don't know if y'all experience the same thing, but it like catches your attention. They know what they're doing, these marketing people, you know, because you're interested in gossip. We love the gossip.

What's going on with the president this week? What's going on in the White House this week? What's going on with this movie star this week? What's going on with this sports hero this week, you know? And we want to know and we want the inside scoop because it fascinates us.

We're attracted to it. We want to know and we have no clue whether it's true or not. It's just fun and it's exciting for us. So, we just enjoy hearing the dirt or perhaps we enjoy others looking bad because it makes us feel better. Because we compare ourselves to others.

Man, you know, I might be in a bad place, but that dude is like really in a bad place. So, I feel a lot better about myself, you know? I'm really, I'm really, I'm going to give myself a thumbs up. And if we can compare ourselves to people who are worse than us, it makes us feel better. Or maybe we're just dissatisfied with life.

We just don't enjoy life, so that's kind of our out road to try to connect with something that makes us feel better. Or we're just plain insecure people. We're just insecure about our life and what we have going on. So, there's a lot of reasons we participate in gossip, but there's not a single good reason. There's not one single good reason we can put in place to gossip.

And we may believe that everyone does it. Well, everybody does it. I mean, that's just how it goes. But because everybody does it, and your mom and dad told you this when you were young, just because everybody does it, you don't, it doesn't necessarily mean you do it, right? Everybody jumps off a cliff, you know?

You hear that term all the time, right? If everybody jumps off a cliff, but it's so true. Do you want to jump off a cliff with somebody? Then jump in with the gossip. But I choose, as believers, we're held to a higher standard.

We want to be different, right? We want to be people who speak well of others. We want to speak good things. We want to speak life into people. So, as believers, we're going to rise above that.

And that's my hope today, as we talk about gossip. That you would rise above, and we want to live in a way that's pleasing to God. Kryptonite. It can hinder us. It could kill our ministry, our effectiveness.

But we want to be people who are superheroes. I know that sounds silly. But God has designed us to be powerhouses for his kingdom. Let's crush the Kryptonite. So, how do we overcome?

How do we crush this Kryptonite? How do we overcome the sin of gossip? Well, three things today I want to talk about. First of all, you need to ask these questions. The first thing is, is my conversation helpful or hurtful?

When I'm having conversations with other people, am I helping them? Or am I hurting them? Saul, one of the most destructive people to Christianity, who met Jesus on the road to Damascus and was completely and radically changed by Jesus Christ, and ended up planting churches and ministering Jesus to that part of the world, reaching the Gentiles, said this. This destructive man who was a gossiper, you know, because he didn't like Christians and he misrepresented Christians all the time. He said this in Ephesians 4, 29.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. Because I once did that. I was unwholesome. But let none come out of your mouth. But only that, only what is helpful for building up others.

See, that's what I want to be. I want to build up others. I don't want to break people down. I want to build up others. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said this.

Scoundrels create trouble. Their words are a destructive blaze, a troublemaker. Plants seeds of strife, but gossip separates the best of friends. Isn't that so true? Some of you probably can relate to that.

You had a good friend one time in your life, and you're no longer friends because you gossiped. You told a secret, or they told a secret about you, or they said something about you that misrepresented you, and you're no longer there. You're no longer a part of their their lives. And is it helpful? Or is it hurtful?

And let's be honest. We all love the gossip this way. We like to put it in a compliment sandwich, don't we? Let me just demonstrate. Well, you know, she's a good girl.

I mean, I love her, but did you know she does this? Did you know she does that? But I love her. I mean, she's a great girl, you know? He's a great guy.

I mean, he's really growing in his faith, but I wouldn't trust him with my kids. You know, it's like, but I love him. I mean, he's great. You know, and we do that. We kind of compliment them, and then we break them down, and then we compliment them again so that we can feel good about what we're saying and what we're doing.

And I'm guilty of it. I know you're guilty of it, and that's how we do it. And I'll tell you, the worst place that this happens is in prayer meetings. You get a bunch of people together in a small group, a prayer meeting, and you're, oh, please pray for Sally. Let me tell you, you know, she's just having this really tough time right now.

Let me give you the goods. Here's what's happening, and you kind of break down, you know, her husband's doing this, and she's doing that, and she's just far from God right now, and could y'all just pray for her? Because I want, you know, and you might be legit in some way with your, but you've gossiped. You put gossip in the middle of your prayer meeting, and that's just not good. Because gossip kind of enters into the back door.

It's that subtle, unrecognizable sin. It's easy to murder, rape, get it away from me, you know, those things that, but gossip, well, you know, sometimes you have to, because people, is it hurtful, or is it helpful? Is it hurtful, or is it helpful? But some of you are like, well, if it's true, you know, should we talk about it? Well, everything that is said should be true.

That's true. Everything that is said should be true, but not everything that is true must be said. Sometimes it's just better to keep our mouths closed. Is it helpful, or hurtful? Second question we need to ask, am I making private matters public?

Am I making these private matters? If somebody's sharing something in confidence with me, am I keeping it private, or am I making it public? Proverbs 11, 12, and 13 says this, it's foolish to belittle one's neighbor. Who's your neighbor? Anybody around you.

Not just the person who lives beside you, your friends, your family, your co-workers, your people in your neighborhood, the person at the store down the road, whoever you're connecting with, people in your church, your church family, those are your neighbors. Those are your friends, right? It is foolish to belittle one's neighbor. A sensible person keeps quiet. They keep their mouth closed.

A gossip goes around telling secrets, right? There it is right there in scripture. It's not Leon, it's God. But those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence. If you're trustworthy, you can keep things in confidence.

There's a story that was shared with me from another pastor about a lady in their church. And this is devastating. Her husband committed adultery. They were going through a really, really tough time. And in confidence, she shared it with another friend of hers in the church that she trusted in.

And they prayed together, and they were working through it. And then the lady, meaning well, tells another friend in the church, this is, this is, this is in confidence. Let me, let me, you know, that's how we always start. This is in confidence, you know. But just be praying for this lady.

Just, just pray for her. Help her get through this situation. And then what happened after that is this lady ended up letting her prayer group know. And in her prayer group, like, started talking about it and praying for it. And meaning well, you know.

We mean well. We do mean well. But it's not always the right thing to let things know in public when things are shared in confidence. And it ended up that that particular situation was disastrous. They never got back together.

They never healed. And it wasn't because of the adultery. It was because of the gossip. That's what killed it. So, are we making private matters public?

And today, it's, it's worse than it's ever been. We can make things public just like that. Social media, man. We don't have to call 300 people anymore. Hey, hey, social media.

Back in the day, they would, they would get on the phone and talk. You know, you could just post it on Twitter. We could just post it on Facebook. We could do whatever. We, and it's out there, you know.

We can let people know instantly. It's a very dangerous thing. And, and we need to, to, to, to be careful what we tell others when people share things in confidence with us. If they're sharing it in confidence with, with you, it's better to keep our mouths closed because it can turn into a disastrous thing. You could kill a relationship.

You could kill a friendship. You could ruin. It's a cancer. Kryptonite is a cancer. And you got to cut it out.

You got to crush it. You got to get rid of it so that you can be healthy. And this protects not only the other person when you do this. It actually protect, protects you. Get what, look at, look at what Proverbs says, Proverbs, Proverbs says in Proverbs 25, 9 and 10.

It says, when arguing with a neighbor, don't betray another person's secret. Others may accuse you of gossip, but you will never again regain your reputation. You'll never again have a good reputation, basically. So it not only protects that person, it protects you. You know, God knows what he's doing.

He's making you healthy. He's making the other person healthy. He's kind of bringing us through this. So gossip is one of those things that's so neglected, but are you making private things public? And then the third question is, am I permitting others to gossip?

No, I'm not doing that. I'm not permitting others to gossip. I'm just, you know, they're gossiping. Well, get what Proverbs says here. Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip.

So even if you're listening to gossip, it's as good as gossip. You're promoting it. You're permitting it. You're allowing it. And it's not just one thing to be gossiping.

It's a whole nother level if you're just allowing it to happen. If you're just listening to it and enjoying it. And I'm just listening, you know. I'm not, you know. I just want to know the goods.

I want to know the dirt. I'm not like telling anybody else. But the Bible clearly says if you're listening to it, it's as good as gossip. You're sinning. Just doing that.

What you permit, you promote. What you permit, you promote. So what we need to say is, if we're ever involved in a situation, is we need to carefully disregard what they're saying. Be gentle and kind. Sometimes maybe be rash about it or straightforward or direct about it if it comes to that situation.

But there's many ways we can handle it. Because, you know, when you're talking to somebody and somebody's gossiping, you know, if they're gossiping to you, they're probably gossiping about you. Well, did you know that? Someone, I, it's always a red flag for me when somebody comes in and like, you know what, so and so, man, that person, you're talking about me, you're probably talking about everybody else, right? Because gossipers tend, they just gossip, you know?

So, so how do we stop gossip? What are some things that we can, we can do to stop it? If we don't want to permit it and promote it, what are some things we can do? How do we, how do we direct the situation? How practically do we even talk to people?

People who are entering into gossip, who are talking about other people, and there's ways we can do it. You can do it the subtle way. I'm not feeling very comfortable with this conversation. Can, you know, let's, let's move on to another conversation. I've had that talking, you know, with a group of people, they start talking about something like, hey guys, did y'all know that, I'll change the subject completely and kind of sway them, or let's, let's just move on from this, because I think it's entering into the gossip realm when we start talking about these things.

Or you can do it in a caring way, and you can say, if, if so and so knew we were talking about them, they'd probably be hurt. It's like, yeah, you're probably right. You know, you can enter that, or you can do it the biblical way. You know, if it's just like a real problem, you can say, if you have a problem with that person, if you're talking about that person, maybe you need to go and have a conversation with that person. You know, don't tell other people about it.

Just go have a conversation. Or maybe you like the direct way. If you keep talking about others, you know, if you don't, if you keep talking about others, I can't hang out with you anymore. If it's that big of an issue, I just can't be around it. I can't hang.

So we need to cut the kryptonite out of our lives. We need to be very intentional about cutting these acceptable habits out of our lives. Because, here's the deal. When you allow these things in the back door, whether it's lying, whether it's the pridefulness of who we are, or what we're doing, or whether it's, you know, anything in our lives, it roots, and it grows, and it keeps growing, and it keeps growing, and it keeps growing, and then it becomes a devastating sin. So we need to stop it.

Now, there are times where, when we're gossiping, when we're gossiping, when we're talking about a situation, because in most cases we're gossiping, there are times that we do need to bring a third person in. This is rare, but we do need to bring a third person in if there's a legitimate problem. Maybe that problem is the person has a drug habit, and they're really just having a tough time, or they're walking away from God. They're having a tough time with their relationship with God, and you see them going down a path that they're not stopping, and they're moving straight down to destruction. And there's times you need to have conversations, and it's okay to bring somebody in that's actually very biblical, if you need to have a conversation with the person, and you need to bring the third person, or maybe another person into the conversation, but we need to make sure of this.

First of all, are you saying something constructive, and that you would say in front of others? Is it constructive? Is it helpful? It's not hurtful. Is it helpful?

And would you say this in front of others? And the people that are involved in the conversation, do they legitimately want to help? Are they wanting to help the person? So, you know, and that's, and you can pull that person in. There's, there's always issues where you have to, or conversations that had, have to be had with more than one person.

So we want to be very careful how we, we do that. Who do we bring into the situation? But the point is, is this, if you don't take anything out of this message, is that your words matter. Everything that you say matters. Your words matter.

Matthew 12, 36 and 37 says this, That's a big statement there. The things that we say, the things that we do in life, they actually mean something. The thing, every word that comes out of our mouth has the power of life and death. Did you know that? Words are powerful.

Think about it. If we didn't talk, if we didn't have this tongue, we didn't have this big mouth, the world would probably be in a better place. We probably wouldn't, wouldn't be trying to kill each other. We wouldn't be fighting, nations wouldn't be fighting against each other because of different philosophies and different opinions. People would, would, would not really, I mean, yeah, we would still have our issues and stuff.

But it would, you know, if I'm, if I'm mad, you know, that just looks silly, you know. But if I'm like, get up, you know, you're yelling. It's a, it's a whole different dynamic because your words have power. Lord, the way you use your words are very powerful. Your words have the power of life and death.

And I don't want to be caught. When I'm before the Lord one day, I don't want to be caught with things against me because of what I said. I don't want to, I don't want to know that I was destructive in, in the life of a particular individual by some word I used or some sentence I said about them or some kind of talk about them. I want, I don't want to be the problem. I want to be the solution to people's lives.

I want to help lift people. I don't want to break people down. I want to build them up. And I don't want to, I don't want to believe the worst in people. I want to believe the best in people.

I serve a good, a God of good news. I have a good news God and I want to be a good news person. Are y'all with me to this morning? I want to be a good news person. I want to, I want to be, have the power of life, not the power of life and death.

I want the power of life. We're playing can music at the end. Yes, sir. I want to have the power of life and death. I want to serve a God of good news.

God is a God that lifts people up, that puts people up. And he is a savior and a rescuer for those who abuse us and talk falsely against us. He's the one that lifts us up. A God that said that though you may have sinned, though you've fallen short, I've come to rescue you and save you. I've come to give you hope.

I've come to give you life. I've given, I've given you fullness of life. Amen. That, that's what God has done. That's what, who God is.

That's who Jesus is. Maybe you're somebody who's come to church for the first time in, in your life. Maybe you've come for the first time in years because you've walked away from the church because you never really understood who God is. God is a, is a God of life. He's the life giver.

He is the purpose giver. He is the hope giver. He does not, he does not gossip. He lifts up. He taught, he, he sees you as a child of God.

He sees you that way. And just like Barbara Bush was about George W. He sees you. Don't you talk about my daughter. Don't you talk about my son.

Because you know what? I sent my son to die on the cross for him, for her. Remember, I gave it all for that person. Because that's, that's the God we serve. We serve a good God.

We don't serve a God of death. We serve, serve a God of life. That's the reason he came. He didn't come. He didn't come to bring misery and condemn you.

He came to, to in the midst of our own condemnation, the things that we brought on ourself, the darkness that we brought into our own lives. In the midst of that, he was a light that separated the darkness. And the darkness could not penetrate it. Because that's who Jesus is. He says, I come to give.

I come to give you hope. I come to give you a future. I come to lead you to the way everlasting, everlasting life, and that life can start right now. Right now can be that time. And with all heads bowed and all eyes closed, I want to give you the opportunity, if that's you today, that's never, ever made a decision for Jesus, and I give you that opportunity today.

Jesus gives you that opportunity today. Today is the day to make that decision. If that's you today, let me pray for you, and I'm not going to embarrass you, I'm not going to make you come up to the front, but if you would just, if that's you today, I want you to be so bold to say, hey, that's me, I'm ready to confess my sin, and I'm ready to make my relationship with Christ real. I want to know Christ. I want to know this person that came, this God that came in the form of a person, fully God and fully man, that came to earth.

to do this for me. If that's you today, just make that statement. Say, that's me, that's me. Are you here? Is that you?

Is that you? If you pray this with me, because you can make him yours. He can speak life into the dead things. It says, dry bones live just by the word of the Lord. So say this and pray this, and there's nothing magical in the prayer.

It just comes from the heart. You just pray, Lord, I believe that you are the Son of God, and you died on the cross for the sin I committed. I receive you. I accept you as Jesus, the Lord and Savior, the King of all, the one who gave his life on the cross. I receive you into my life and into my heart.

Come and make me whole. Give me life. Give me life the way everlasting. Change me and transform me from the inside out as I walk with you from this day.