Have you ever talked about someone who wasn’t present? Have you ever found out people talked about you when you weren’t present? As we continue our series, 7 Deadly Sins of Suburbia, Nate Hilgenkamp teaches about gossip by teaching through the book of Proverbs.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

-Gossip is sharing unhelpful or unnecessary information about someone who isn’t present.

-Gossip is in the same list of sins as murder and hating God.

-Gossip is enjoyable.

-TMZ made $126 million in 2021…they’ve literally made an industry out of gossip.

-Neuroscience has shown that the reward center of our brain lights up in response to gossip in a similar way as it does to romantic interest or eating chocolate.

-We enjoy gossip because it makes us feel better than others.

-Gossip also makes us feel important because someone trusts us to tell us something.

-When someone gossips to you, they are really saying, “I’m OK talking about people behind their back.”

-We enjoy gossip because it’s easy. It’s a lot harder to ask intentional questions of others or share specific struggles in your own life.

-Gossip is divisive.

-As adults it’s easy to see gossip in middle and high schoolers, but the reality is, it’s rampant and divisive in adults too.

-It’s been said that gossip is the devil’s telephone.

-God hates gossip because He loves you.

-Before being crucified, Jesus prayed specifically for us, today, that we would be perfectly unified with other Christians the way He and the Father are perfectly unified.

-Gossip can be put out.

-The only way a fire can continue is by adding fuel. The same is true of gossip. Are you adding fuel or putting it out?

-Even if you don’t share gossip, you have a part to play when you listen or permit it to happen.

-We talk to people not about people.

-On Harris Creek staff, we practice the “24-hour rule.” If someone says something to you about someone else, you give that person 24-hours to go tell the person they gossiped about, and if they don’t, you go with them to talk to the person together.

-These phrases are almost never going to have helpful things behind them: “Don’t tell them I told you, but;” “This doesn’t leave this room;” & “Just between you and me.”

-Venting is simply calling gossip by a different name.

-If something doesn’t honor God or encourage others, just don’t say it.

-If you are afraid your phone might record what you are saying about someone, don’t say it in the first place.

-God hears every word you speak. Your words matter.

MENTIONED OR RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

-Proverbs 18:8, 16:28, 26:20; Romans 1:29-30; Genesis 3:4-5; John 17:20-23; Ephesians 4:29; Matthew 12:36-37

-Sermon: Comparison