What does the Bible say about gossip?

The Bible passages below can be used in sermons, prayers, and pastoral care focused on gossip. 

• Exodus 23:1, don't spread a false report (do not serve as a malicious witness)
• Psalm 141:3, guard my lips (set a guard over my mouth, O Lord)
• Proverbs 10:19, restraint in speech is wise (the prudent hold their tongues)
• Proverbs 11:9-13, gossip breaks trust (one who gossips tells secrets, but one who is trustworthy keeps a confidence)
• Proverbs 16:28, gossip harms friendships (one who gossips separates close friends)
• Proverbs 18:8, gossip is enticing (words of gossip are like tasty morsels that go down easily)
• Proverbs 20:19, gossip breaks trust (one who gossips reveals secrets; stay away from this kind of person)
• Proverbs 26:20-21, gossip stirs up trouble (for lack of wood the fire goes out, but gossip fuels the fire)
• Romans 1:29-30, gossip is a kind of evil (those who didn't acknowledge God were filled with every kind of wickedness…)
• 2 Corinthians 12:20, gossip is not Christlike (Paul feared that he would find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, gossip, and disorder in the church)
• Ephesians 4:29, gossip does not build others up (only speak what is gracious and useful for building up)
• 1 Timothy 5:13, avoid gossip (people who are idle may become gossipers and say what they should not say)
• James 3:5-6, gossip carries danger (the tongue is a fire and can cause great destruction)

Sermon ideas about gossip 

A sermon on gossip can first define what gossip is. Secrecy is an ingredient in gossip. It's talk behind someone's back, and it may be innocent or even helpful. "John would never tell you this, but he was actually a state champion." Or suppose you have a newbie in the office. A word or two about ways to avoid irritating the boss might be helpful: "Don't bring up politics." Sometimes gossip is mere casual chatter: "She drives a Camry and loves it."

But the Bible focuses on the harmful effects gossip often causes, and a sermon on gossip can focus on these effects: 

• First, gossip is often speculative or plainly false. Gossipers will, for example, speculate on other people's motives: "They do that only to curry favor." But people who gossip can't know what they're talking about unless they have the power to peer into other people's souls.
• Second, harmful gossip is not good for the gossiper. Anyone who spreads a damaging secret and has a conscience is going to be troubled — as they should be. Now they must revise their self-image downward. They also have a mortifying assignment — to go to both the recipient of the gossip and to the subject of the gossip and confess their wrongdoing. (Fortunately, this assignment can be unpleasant enough to deter them from future spasms of gossip.) If the gossiper doesn't have a conscience, the belief that they are entitled to say whatever they want behind other people's backs is reinforced. Their heart is hardened.
• Third, gossip may puncture the privacy of its subject. "Did you know that he was once hospitalized for mental illness?" "I heard that he lost most of his nest egg at the track." "She can't stand how she looks." All human beings are entitled to a reasonable amount of privacy, safe from the rummaging of a blabbermouth.
• Fourth, gossip may damage its recipient. Let's say you've been told a dark and juicy secret about a friend. If you relish the bad news, you deepen your own schadenfreude. If the secret is unwelcome news, you're now stuck with it. You can't get it unsaid. And it may fester in you. It may contaminate your relationship with both the gossiper and the subject of the gossip.

Classically, bad-news gossip can harm the reputation of its subject. Somebody dishes dirt behind Tom's back, and now he can't figure out why people avoid him, or look at him funny, or don't trust him, or don't laugh at his jokes anymore. And he can't figure out what happened. So he asks somebody what's changed between them. Now the recipient of the question is in a bind: If she tells the truth, she must admit that she believed an unsubstantiated, private, or damaging piece of gossip. If she lies to him ("I don't know what you're talking about"), she hides truth Tom has a right to and she corrupts herself.

No wonder James says that the tongue is a fire (James 3:6).

A problem for Christians who want to discipline their speech and listen with love is that gossip is everywhere and is widely regarded as normal, or harmless, or merely naughty, or actually entertaining. Talk shows, reality TV, social media, school playgrounds, extended families, workplaces, churches and synagogues, and countless other venues where people gather — all of them teem with gossip.

National politics is full of gossip. In the U.S., unscrupulous people for years spread the false rumor that President Barack Obama wasn't an American and therefore wasn't eligible to be president. This racist lie damaged the President's reputation just as the gossips had hoped, endangered the president and his family, and corrupted the nation's consciousness. A prominent participant in this scandalous business finally admitted in public that the "birther" rumor was false but didn't think to apologize for spreading it.

Gossip is everywhere and impossible to avoid. But the wary and conscientious Christian will nonetheless strive to speak and listen with integrity. One of the best descriptions of such integrity is the Heidelberg Catechism's treatment of the ninth commandment (Do not bear false witness), which includes the admonition to do what we can to guard and advance our neighbor's good name. 

Excerpts about gossip

Following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch sermon resources about gossip:

• "Gossip comes from an insecure heart that is trying very hard to create intimacy with another, an inner ring, an inner circle, those of us who 'know.'" Sermon Illustration by Dallas Willard from Center for Excellence in Preaching 
• "For gossip to be effective, it must be originated by people willing to betray others, but with no courage to come out of the shadows; then it must be believed by those who hear it (often with relish), and passed on." Scripture Meditation or Sermon by David Baumann from The Living Church
• "The abundance of gossip in the New Testament provides valuable material for the study of identity and group interaction in antiquity. By paying attention to gossip, we gain important insight into the very human and social character of the earliest recollections of Jesus." Article about Scripture by John (Jack) Daniels from Bible Odyssey