Did you hear?

My wife seems to like to buy those Hollywood “rag” magazines. Whenever we fly anywhere she buys one of every flavor. Out of sheer boredom on long flights I sometimes look them over and it is always the same stuff about various movie stars getting divorces, taking drugs, having affairs, going to jail, or whatever. Some of it I guess is fact and much of it is fiction, but I do not think it really matters as people are mesmerized by it and love to read about the portrayed lifestyle of the rich and famous. These magazines sell by the hundreds of millions on a worldwide level.

If I could use but one word to describe these magazines it would be “gossip”. Gossip is scorned in the Bible and we are told not to partake in it. In fact the Bible states that one of the qualifications of being a deacon in a church is that your wife cannot be a gossip. Ha!

Gossip nearly always harms others and can actually ruin lives and careers. It actually was the cause for Princess Diana’s death as paparazzi chased her through the streets of Paris trying to take a photo of her and her boyfriend. Such photos can be worth upwards of fifty thousand dollars to a gossip magazine. If these magazines did not exist in the world today we would still be blessed by her graceful presence on this earth.

I don’t know if it is a sin or much of one anyway to read these magazines, but without question the thirst for this material is what drives the industry to find the most shocking and juicy gossip to deliver to their ravenous readers. I cannot envision Jesus reading one. I do know that unquestionably it is a sin to gossip and the Bible is crystal clear on that subject. Gossip causes harm to others and it creates strife. Don’t partake of it. That means when someone comes to you and states, “Hey did you hear that so and so.”, then you say, “Not interested”. And whatever you do, don’t be the initiator or the spreader of the manure.

Proverbs 26:20
Where there is no wood,
the fire goes out;
And where there is no
talebearer, strife ceases.