Gossip, An Enemy of Unity

Did you know that there are 5 forces that can tear the unity of a church apart? Poor communication, gossip, unresolved disagreements, lack of a shared purpose and sanctioned incompetence. I want to take a closer look at the destructive nature of gossip.
It’s impossible for people to be comfortable working around or worshiping with each other, let alone enjoy each other, when gossip is present. Gossip is inherently degrading; it will divide and destroy a church or an organization.
What is gossip? It is delivering negative information—any negative information about anyone or anything—to someone who cannot do something about it.
Our motto here at Carey should be: negatives go up; positives go all around. We are, after all, the real beneficiaries of that policy. We need to know what we can and can’t do with negative information; there is no gray area. Of equal importance, we can point to that rule with pride and cut gossip off before it has a chance to do any damage.
Negative stuff will happen. That’s inevitable. The negatives may be about a person or a process. Either way, they need to be handed to the pastor or a deacon, (these are the leaders in the church), someone who can do something about them. If you’re mad at a leader, talk to another leader about it. But complaining to anyone else is disloyalty, and it fosters a negative spirit that will trash the church.
If a person needs to be counseled or educated or reprimanded, that’s a leader’s job. If a process needs to be changed, that’s also a leader’s responsibility. If the situation is really none of the communicator’s business, then a leader will let him or her know that, too.
However, if someone delivers the same negatives to a peer or tells someone below them on the chain of command, then that’s gossip. It’s that simple.
Passing along negative information for the sole purpose of telling someone is gossip. That should never be tolerated in a church that strives for unity. Remember, negatives go up; positives go all around.
In HIS Service,
Bro. Randy