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It’s happened many times before. There’s a piece of news that’s not common knowledge, but you or someone you know has found something out about the company or someone in the company. What do you do with that information?
It’s no longer just something “that women do”, gossip that happens when someone knows something that he believes someone else does not know– whether they need to know or not.
In the town of Hooksett, N.H., gossip cost four women their job:
Four town employees with 46 years of service between them were fired, in part for gossiping and discussing rumors of an improper relationship between the town administrator and another employee that Hooksett residents now agree were not true.
The administrator complained, and after an investigation the town council fired the women, finding, “Gossip, whispering, and an unfriendly environment are causing poor morale and interfering with the efficient performance of town business.”
The women were incredulous– after all, they talked about it at lunch and it stopped there. Only, it never ends there. Someone else hears it, “news” spreads, and before you know it a reputation is ruined for something that is usually untrue.
It’s hard to deal with this kind of sin because “everyone does it.” We like to know something someone else does because of what it does to our pride, how it can boost other’s opinion of ourselves as an information source or as someone who is better than the person we are gossiping about.
This isn’t something a Christian should be doing for those reasons alone, not even taking into account the fact that what we hear is seldom the whole story.
What should we do when we hear gossip? Ask not to hear it! If you can’t, ask the teller if they would mind if you checked the story out with the one they are talking about. Usually the person will not want you to go back to the subject. You should, though. The person needs to know what was said about them.
