Spreading Truth vs. Gossip

“Don’t talk to anyone here after you leave.”

“Never speak ill of the leaders.”

“You are sowing division if you express your opinion on this.”

I like to gossip.

I don’t mean I like to gossip.

I think gossip is terrible.

But I find it a great temptation to seek the counterfeit connection and (seeming) status increase that comes from sharing in gossip, especially if it’s a secret.

But it is terrible.

And we all know it’s terrible. You should never share things that you wouldn’t want the person you’re talking about to know you’re sharing.

Sometimes, it’s not even that bad. What you’re saying, nobody else would see as gossip.

But your heart knows why you’re sharing it. You just heard something, and there is an anxiety to go to some person or group to spread the news. That anxiety is a sign you should keep it to yourself. You’re seeking status. You’re looking for a counterfeit identity and self-worth.

Or, you’re looking for cheap connection.

Either way, it weakens you and hurts your spirit.

That said…

Church leaders and other powerful people will use this against you when they try to keep you from talking about things that should be talked about.

[***disclaimer - I myself am a church leader and most of them are wonderful. I’m not talking about the wonderful ones. I’m talking about the narcissistic and abusive, self-aggrandized ones.]

Back in the days of monarchies, saying things against the king, no matter what he was doing, was treason, and worse, heresy.

Why? Because he is God’s chosen vessel. Therefore everything he does is sanctioned by God. At least that was the logic.

This was evil and the cause of good men and women being burned at the stake.

And it is no different from what happens today in churches.

A friend of mine left their church simply because they lived 25 miles across the city. There was a church in their neighborhood that was reaching the neighbors, people they longed to reach, and they knew they couldn’t invite them to a church a 40 minute drive away.

“Here’s how to leave (church name). You may not talk to anyone who is here. It is gossip and divisive.”

The email went on impersonally to cut them off by way of guilting and shaming. It was as if the church leaders were saying, “You have sinned against the church by preferring another church, and if you talk to people here, they might believe they too could go to some other faithful church closer to their home.”

The fact was they believed they were the best church, perhaps the only faithful church in town.

But worse than that, the leaders were terrified. They didn’t trust God. They didn’t trust their people. They were possessive and threatened by anyone who leaves for any reason. And these people were saying nothing bad about the church they were leaving.

But what if they were talking to people?

The more abusive and evil the leader, the more likely they have a strong ethic of no talking. No talking to outsiders, no talking to insiders. If you must talk, go straight to the leaders to “process” your problems.

This is sometimes telling a woman who’s been assaulted by a leader that it is only okay to speak of it to the one who assaulted her.

It’s wrong. And many people are deceived on this point. Even many good people.

When I once became aware of some disqualifying conduct by the leadership in a group I was a part of, my well-meaning friend said, “Who benefits if you talk about it?”

What he meant was, only Satan benefits when “the church attacks the church.”

This is a lie. Satan benefits when good people say nothing, abuse or impropriety continues, and then it gets discovered much later by the world and all we have done is simply cover it up while people continue getting hurt.

The prophets were a sad company. Most of them had a hard ministry and their whole job was saying what no one wanted to hear.

Sometimes, that’s the calling of the Christian writer.

Revolutions are undergirded by writers. Change comes when, not only do people know the truth, but when some of those people learn to communicate it effectively.

Truth is not gossip. Truth is light. Light heals. Light protects. Light honors the God who sees.

Becoming a Writer of Truth and Reform

If gossip is the counterfeit, then truthful writing is the real thing. It is connection without manipulation. It is courage without vanity. It is speech that serves the people of God and honors the God who sees.

Writers who tell the truth don’t write to wound.

They write to expose what is sick so that healing can begin. They write because silence has consequences.

They write because God has always used human voices to realign His people with his heart.

To write for reform, you need a few things.

You need a conscience that will not settle for half-light.

You need a willingness to resist flattery and popularity or fear of man (especially abusive and powerful leaders).

You need the humility to know that you are not the judge, yet the boldness to speak what should be spoken.

You also need patience. Prophetic work is slow work.

A single sentence can take years to bear fruit. Most of the prophets never saw the results of their writing in their own lifetime. Yet their words carried the weight of heaven because they were faithful.

If God has given you a pen (or laptop), He has given you responsibility.

Write the truth with courage and love.

The outcome of the truth is the right outcome—always.

Next week, I’ll add balance to this and discuss the dangers of writing truth impersonally—demonizing and vilifying for effect those you have no intention of knowing. But for today. Just go write the truth and shout it from the mountain tops.

Jeff B. Miller

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