Today's Devotional

August 13, 2003

Subject:  Gossip Is A Terrible Thing To Chase

1 Timothy 5:13 - "At the same time, they learn to go around from house to house since they have nothing else to do. Not only this, but they also gossip and get involved in other people's business, saying things they shouldn't say."

This is not my normal King James Version of the text, but I thought that this one made more plain the idea of gossip and why it happens.  In this particular passage it is referring to young widows.  However this can be just as true for any of us today.  When we become idle in our minds and actions and have nothing else to do, then we find the strangest things to enlighten our lives and that usually consists of talking about others.  

Remember, it used to be the soaps.  Everyone would always wonder what happened to Luke and Laura or who was Erica now sleeping with.  There was always someone else sneaking around and that heightened the whispers among the cast of characters.  So now it's reality TV that gets us to delve into the lives of others.  Not to condemn those who watch this stuff, but seriously, is this stuff that interesting?  Do we really care if some unsuspecting woman is gonna get duped by the supposed millionaire?  

This might seem like it's off the topic, but I think that's what lead us into the personal lives of our friends and relatives and often into "people's business" that is none of ours.  I personally think it happens in two places; small towns and small minds.  Of course we can understand the small town phenomenon.  In that case, everybody knows everybody and so it kinda becomes one big family.  The small mind thing can exist anywhere and with anyone.  It normally results from people who have simply chosen nothing better to do.  Many times it's disguised as a prayer request or as someone just "wanting to get the facts straight."  It doesn't matter, in the end, it's simply someone saying things they shouldn't say, passing on information simply to heighten the drama.

I don't know who said it but the quote goes something like "great people talk about ideas, regular people talk about places and small people talk about other people."  That's probably misquoted in some way but that's about right.  

Carlen