Stopping Gossip
October 1, 2002
Gossip indicates poor health.
We had huge gossip issues ten years ago, but we don't today. We had created an environment where people felt powerless to dissent. Most church business we kept secret among the top leaders. Gossip was an ungodly response to powerlessness. We decided if information is going to be distributed freely, we want to be the ones to distribute it. So now we share widely whatever is appropriate. We try to create an environment where people can be heard. If people are informed and empowered, then when they hear gossip, they will stop it, because they know it's not true. In a multi-cultural environment, it's important to know whether the person is from a directive or non-directive society. Asian and Latin cultures communicate indirectly. It may not be appropriate to speak directly to a superior. Someone might say something to my wife, hoping to open a discussion with me. That's not gossip. Their motivation is pure. They can have a conversation about me without attacking my character. A non-directive communicator will talk with someone close to you; a gossiper will talk to anybody.
Preach it, brother.
Six years ago, our church prepared to divide into two bodies in order to plant a new congregation. During the months we gave the people to pray through this decision, I started hearing rumors: the church I was going to pastor would be filled with former drug addicts and prostitutes, and unsuitable for families with children. (I had experience ministering to these groups of people.) I decided to address it head on. I found a way to work the rumor into my next sermon. "Apparently some of you think that when I become senior pastor here that I'm going to drive down to the Crenshaw district in a bus and pick up a whole ...
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