Loose Lips Sink Friendships

Have you ever considered how a few casual words shared behind someone's back could potentially destroy their reputation, relationships, or even their life? Today's episode tackles what has sadly become "America's new favourite pastime" and how we can counter it.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with
Danny Mac.
I'm going to be here everyMonday to Friday to help you get
a great five-minute start toyour day.
So grab your cup of coffee, sitback, relax and let me help you
start your day right.
Let me tell you a story aboutfour preachers who had just met.
They were from a fairlyconservative denomination, so

(00:28):
they really didn't allow a lotof vices within the group.
But as these pastors began totalk with one another, one of
them said Our people come to usand they pour out their hearts.
They confess certain sins andneeds.
You know, I think we should dothe same.
The Bible tells us thatconfession is good for the soul.
Well, they all talked about ita little bit and then they all
agreed.

(00:48):
So the first one confessed thathe liked to go to the movies
and he would sneak off wheneverhe was away from his church.
The second confessed that heliked to smoke cigars.
And the third one, he confessedthat he liked to play cards.
When it came to the fourth one,he wouldn't say anything.
The others pressed him, sayingcome on, we confessed our sins,

(01:08):
what's your secret vice?
And finally he answered with agrin it's gossiping, and I could
hardly wait to get out of here.
Recently, I read an article thatsaid that gossiping is
America's new favorite pastime.
Isn't that a sad statement ofwhere we've come to?
Some of the most popular showson television are things that

(01:29):
talk about celebrity gossip orpolitical gossip, or shows like
Dr Phil, where people come inand expose all of the garbage of
their lives and then others cantalk about them.
It's really getting ridiculousand in its extreme form, gossip
is turning into canceling people.
You use all the gossip networks.
There's Twitter, facebook,instagram, you name it.

(01:52):
There's so many things outthere that people use and abuse
to gossip about other people,and it can become quite vicious,
to the point where there arenow a number of recorded events
in the States where teens havecommitted suicide because the
gossip about them has gotten sobad on these social media
accounts.
Actually, gossip is nothing new.
The Bible talked about it a longtime ago.

(02:13):
Proverbs 16, verse 28 says Atroublemaker plants seeds of
strife.
Gossip separates the best offriends.
Over in Proverbs 18, verse 8,rumors are dainty morsels that
sink deep into one's heart.
And then, over in the NewTestament, paul is writing to
the Corinthian church.

(02:34):
He's admonishing them becausethey've gone so far from the way
they should be living.
And in 2 Corinthians 12, verse20, he says I'm afraid that when
I come, I won't like what Ifind and you won't like my
response.
I'm afraid that I will findquarreling, jealousy, anger,
selfishness, slander, gossip,arrogance and disorderly

(02:55):
behavior.
Paul was not about to put upwith a church that gossiped.
Just so that we're clear, let megive you the definition of
gossip.
It's defined as casual orunconstrained conversation or
reports about other people,typically involving details that
are not confirmed as being true.
One of the biggest challengesthat we face is that we can't

(03:17):
even watch news right nowwithout getting gossip.
We get bits and pieces ofdetails that really are
unconfirmed as being true orthey're taken out of context to
create a different perspectivethan what the truth was in the
original statement.
It's happening everywhere andpeople are eating up this gossip
and the end result Gossip isdestroying reputations and

(03:38):
people.
So, as Christians, we need tolead the way to stop gossiping.
We need to think before wespeak.
We need to refuse to listen theway to stop gossiping.
We need to think before wespeak.
We need to refuse to listen toothers who are gossiping.
We need to make sure that we'renot judging others by the
gossip that we've heard.
Let me give you just a littlehint of something important.
People who gossip to you willgossip about you, that's

(04:01):
guaranteed.
So here's an alternative foryou If you're going to talk
behind someone's back,compliment them.
Don't talk about anything thatcould be damaging or hurtful to
them.
Compliment them even if it'ssomeone you don't like.
Say something good about people.
Make it your choice every dayto say good things about people.

(04:23):
Let's start a goodness gossipmovement where all we do are
talk about good things.
Someone mentions the name ofsomeone.
You say something positiveabout them, even if you don't
like them.
We choose to say the goodthings.
The end result will be theopposite of destroying
reputations and people.
We're building them up, andthere needs to be a whole lot
more of building each other upin our world right now, and let

(04:45):
it start with us.
You and me Make that decisionthat I am going to build people
up by what I say about them whenthey're not around, and when we
do, we mirror what Christ wantsus to be in this world.
Have a great day, my friends.
Say good things and we willtalk to you again tomorrow.

(05:12):
Thank you for listening todayand I invite you to join me
Monday to Friday, right here on,starting right with Danny Mac.