Food for Thought: Gasoline and Water

So...

I was watching Joel Osteen a good month ago. Not my normal thing to watch him, as I don't know what time he comes on. But I was switching channels and happen to catch him.

He had the most interesting sermon that day.

And it has stayed on my mind.  It has been heavy on my mind every since.
Maybe it has stuck with me because it was concerning a subject/activity I absolutely loathe. I mean, I really hate this subject with a vengeance.

He said something interesting.  (And I am paraphrasing):

"Every person has two buckets, one in each hand. One bucket is full of gasoline. And the other bucket is full of water. And when gossip comes your way, you have a decision to make. You can either pour the bucket of gasoline on it and fuel the fire (gossip)even more, or you can pour the bucket of water on it, and put the fire (gossip) out.  It's your choice what you do."

Then he went on for 30 minutes in severe detail concerning that statement... and the personal choices you have to make in the situations.

He didn't have to even do all of that.  Shoot, he coulda just stopped right there with that statement.

Because that statement says it ALL.

Yes indeed.

I don't care for gossip. And at the same time, I noticed that we are mentally conditioned to do it. It starts with gossiping about the popular people in our culture. And it filters down to gossiping about people around us who have some interesting things going on.

We rarely gossip about the positive, about good news going on in people's lives...

That's just not interesting, you see.
Let me rephrase that: That's just not juicy.

I myself have worked pretty hard on staying away from it. A few years ago, some bad things were said about me, and it got back to me. And I have to admit that it stuck with me, got on the inside of me, and it hurt pretty bad. It took a good part of a year to get over it. But I did. And I learned that I must not invoke that same feeling upon another. I don't want to hurt anyone with malicious talk.

I have a tad bit more work to do it. I notice I gossip out of frustration. I am trying to get to a point where if it bothers me THAT much, then I need to spend time praying about it. I should spend time praying about if I could be helpful somehow. And that is a hard prayer to pray.

That is one reason I loathe the subject matter. Another reason? To me, it points to some interesting self-worth or self-esteem problem. You see... I have to dig up things on you, so I can run around and tell everyone about it (and add my own little opinions, pontifications and flowery falsehoods concerning it), and spread it to as many people as possible.

That way... you know... I feel better about my own stuff going on.

Because what I got going on isn't as jacked up as what you got going on... and that's a good thing.

(RED ALERT: Self-esteem issue!)

And is it just me, or does anyone kinda see that the people who are the most gossipy are the most guarded about their own businees? I mean, they are private as all get out, but talking hard about everybody else business. 

What does that say?

Hmm... Interesting.

Anyway, what Pastor Osteen said, his very much loaded statement, made me think.

We DO have a choice concerning the situations.

Do we pour our gasoline on the gossip, thereby fueling it up and making it worse?

Or do we quench the gossip with our bucket of water?

In other words, does it stop with us?

Or do we motor it forward? And make it much worse.

Hopefully we make the right choice in these situations.

Hopefully.

I have purposed to do so. A lot of work, but it can be done.

Anyway, this caused me to go look up some biblical scripture on gossip. Interestingly, I came across 140 scriptures in 20 translations.  I took the liberty to post some of them here.

Some of them are... eyebrow raising, to say the least. I am most concerned about how gossip gets down into your "innermost being".  And all the references to fuel and fire. Hmm.


Psalms 35:20 MSG No good is going to come from that crowd; They spend all their time cooking up gossip against those who mind their own business.

Psalms 41: 6 NLT They visit me as if they are my friends, but all the while they gather gossip, and when they leave, they spread it everywhere.

Proverbs 4:24 Don't talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip

Proverbs 16:27 CJB A worthless person digs up evil [gossip] it is like scorching fire on his lips

Proverbs 16:28 GNT Gossip is spread by wicked people; they stir up trouble and break up friendships.

Proverbs 18:8 GW  The words of a gossip are swallowed greedily, and they go down into a person's innermost being

Proverbs 18:8 MSG Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you really want junk like that in your belly?

Proverbs 20:19 GW Whoever goes around as a gossip tells secrets. Do not associate with a person whose mouth is always open.

Proverbs 26:20 NLT Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops

Proverbs 26:22 GW The words of a gossip are swallowed greedily, and they go down into a person's innermost being.

Ecclesiastes 7:21 MSG Don't eavesdrop on the conversation of others. What if the gossip's about you and you'd rather not hear it?

Ecclesiastes 10:20 MSG Don't bad-mouth your leaders, not even under your breath, And don't abuse your betters, even in the privacy of your home. Loose talk has a way of getting picked up and spread around. Little birds drop the crumbs of your gossip far and wide

Ephesians 5:4 MSG Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, Christians have better uses for language than that. Don't talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn't fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.


I thought those were interesting, and definitely worth considering. There are some interesting characteristics of gossip scattered within there. 

Here's a song I really like, one that I've been playing all week in the mornings.

It is an interesting song. This is how I would like to treat my friends and people in general, and how I would like to be treated.





Best part of the song to me: "I won't harm you with words from my mouth".

A good declaration indeed.

Anyway, that is Today's Food-for-Thought.

Have a good Tuesday!