Gossip

We are told that it is wrong to gossip and it is. Here is a Biblical verse to that effect:

“For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances” (2 Corinthians 12:20).

Now occasionally there will be Christians who go about behaving badly towards others, mistreating them, and giving Jesus a bad name by their actions. When word of this bad behavior becomes known and begins to be discussed among people, these same individuals will run around accusing other Christians of gossiping. What they mean is that people are saying things about them that are negative. They equate this with gossip.

But what does the Bible actually mean when it teaches against gossip?

In 2 Corinthians 12:20, the word translated gossip is psithyrismós (ψιθυρισμός) and it actually means “whispering slander”. Slander means to “make false and damaging statements about” someone. The key here is that for a negative statement to be considered gossip it must be false. Gossip is slandering someone in a whispering, secretive manner. Slander that is not secretive but said out loud is katalalía (καταλαλία) (see 2 Corinthians 12:20; 1 Peter 2:1).

All this means that something negative someone says about you cannot be considered gossip if it’s true.

So if you don’t want people telling others that you are mistreating people …