disappointed.

Gossip. We eat it up. We all wanna hear about it. When something juicy happens in someone else's life we feel it necessary to tell people about it. Tabloids make their earnings from it, shows like E and TMZ would fail without it and churches would be silent for once.

I am disappointed in the church. I am disapointed in the fact that as christians we are supposed to be different from this world and we are sadly not. There are the select few who know how to shut their faces and pray silently for the situation but in reality - we turn prayer meetings into gossip hour. "oh, I need you to pray for my friend - this is her situation" No shut up. Jesus knows who you are praying for and why. It doesn't help you pray more effectively, be a better friend to the afflicted (cuz if you think about it - if you were a better friend in the first place, you wouldn't have heard the news from the grapevine). It doesn't do anything but let everyone else in on their business. Are our lives so mundane that we MUST talk about other peoples?

One of the biggest reasons I dont tell my business to the church is this reason. Because I want to be the only person talking about me. Its sad. and I am not exempt. I have done my fair share of gossipping about someone - or many someone's to that matter. And then I found out they were talking about me and my entire perspective changed. Its not fun being talked about behind your back. But you risk that by being honest with church members minus the pastors. - well at least at my church, i have heard pastors with loose lips. Its sad though you know, that the place where brothers and sisters in Christ are supposed to commune in unity can't tell people about their problems because of the judgement, the titles, the strife, the gossip. It makes me sick.

We just had a sermon on loyalty. How does gossipping about your brother and sister in christ make you loyal? If those bonds are supposed to be tighter than normal ones, who wont you sell out? If you can gossip about your friend to another woman or man or gossip about your actual sister or sister in law - who wont you talk about? Loyalty. Can we get back to that please? I am trying to keep a tight reign on my lips - its hard so hard, and its hard not to judge other people when I see them flapping their gums away when ive done it too. But all I can say without doubt is that it makes me sorely disappointed. We are better than that. or at least we should be striving to be.

xx- His beloved