Too many people think that “gossip” is the communication of information. Not so. The household of Chloe told the apostle Paul about some unflattering things that pertained to the saints at Corinth (I Corinthians 1:11). Paul was given a unique opportunity to lambast them for gossip but did not do so. Why? They had communicated information not to the detriment of the saints but for the benefit of them. Paul used the information to deal with important matters which dared not be neglected. Hence, gossip is not the mere communication of information.<\/p>\n\n
Gossip is the spreading of tales (whether true or false) for the sake of damaging others. The motive is what contributes greatly to the sin. In fact, some reach the unwarranted conclusion that “talebearing” means that one is conveying false information. Not so. It is the distribution of information that should not be told. It is used that way in numerous passages (see Proverbs 11:13; 20:19). ln fact, the gossip is one who will never tell a lie if he can do as much damage with the truth.<\/p>\n
The intent of the gossip (the talebearer) is to foment strife. Consider: “the words of a talebearer are as wounds<\/em>” (Proverbs 18:8), and “where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth<\/em>” (Proverbs 26:20).<\/p>\n It was pointed out that on the Internet certain people spread a tale concerning a fine brother solely for the sake of causing harm to the reputation or influence of the brother. Those who engaged in such activities are gossips in spite of the fact they may claim to be telling the truth. Let us never forget this one thing: Truth can be told maliciously (or with intent to bring harm).<\/p>\n The best example of this that I can think of is Philippians chapter one. Some were preaching the Christ for the sake of bringing injury to the apostle Paul. They were teaching the truth with malicious intent. Now, in closing, have any of us been guilty of gossip (not the dissemination of facts, but having the intent to harm)? Think about these things.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Floyd Chappelear Sentry Magazine, March 2000 Too many people think that “gossip” is the communication of information. Not so. The household of Chloe told the apostle Paul about some unflattering things that pertained to the saints at Corinth (I Corinthians 1:11). Paul was given a unique opportunity to lambast them for gossip but did…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1573],"class_list":["post-33604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-gossip"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42035,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-gossip-to-comment-about-someone-at-dinner\/","url_meta":{"origin":33604,"position":0},"title":"Is it gossip to comment about someone at dinner?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I had another question about gossip. I was at dinner with my family, and we were talking about some funny times during our last vacation trip. These stories only stay within our family. We don't tell them to anyone else. One story involved a stranger, whom I mentioned something\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51956,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-giving-a-warning-about-a-false-teacher-be-gossip\/","url_meta":{"origin":33604,"position":1},"title":"Can giving a warning about a false teacher be gossip?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading\u00a0an article written by someone on your website about the subject of gossip. Gossip was condemned by the person who wrote the article. But, what about if you're exposing a false teacher, whether they're well known by others or not? I believe that we should raise awareness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50399,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/slander-gossip-and-venting\/","url_meta":{"origin":33604,"position":2},"title":"Slander, Gossip, and Venting","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Alan Feaster","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91021,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-deal-with-an-elders-wifes-gossiping\/","url_meta":{"origin":33604,"position":3},"title":"How do you deal with an elder’s wife’s gossiping?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do the wives of the elders have any authority over the other women of the congregation? Are there qualifications for the wife of an elder? How should it be handled when the wife of an elder repeats hurtful information about a member of the church she learns from her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36146,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-venting-and-gossiping\/","url_meta":{"origin":33604,"position":4},"title":"What is the difference between venting and gossiping?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a\u00a0friend that shares with me about other coworkers that have either said something that she did not like or hurt her feelings, in the past and currently, and I was wondering what exactly is the difference between just venting and gossiping.\u00a0 She sometimes\u00a0begins\u00a0by saying\u00a0\"I am just venting,\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":994,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/he-who-sows-discord-among-brethren\/","url_meta":{"origin":33604,"position":5},"title":"He Who Sows Discord Among Brethren","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Proverbs 6:16-19 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some people are not satisfied with the way things are. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They want people to change, but they go about it the wrong way. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They are missing any love for their brethren II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Gossiping and Talebearing \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Talking about other people. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People who engage in it have too much\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33604\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}