NOT ALL GOSSIP IS SIN

We must carefully guard the definition of sin; because that is how we discern who is a child of God --or a child of the Devil:

1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

1 John 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

The truth is:  NOT ALL GOSSIP IS SIN.  Otherwise, Paul would have been a child of the devil when he warned Timothy about Alexander the coppersmith and reported that Demas had forsaken him because he loved the world.

Here is another case of gossip in the church that was not sin.  In fact, that gossip preceded a proper church discipline for a very serious problem.

“IT IS REPORTED COMMONLY that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.” 1 Corinthians 5:1

CONCLUSION:

Gossip  (backbitings, whisperings,)  would certainly be a sin if the accusations were not true.  We can also be certain that if our intent is to harm the reputation of another it would be contrary to Jesus' teaching of the Golden Rule:

Mat 7:12  Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

As Jesus taught us it is the intent of the heart which God judges.  When we "...speak of the faults and failings of others, or reveal potentially embarrassing or shameful details regarding the lives of others without their knowledge or approval."  we must be very careful that what we say is true and spoken without intent to harm another or lift up ourselves.

Harold and Donna Kupp

The Seven Deadly Deceptions Of Counterfeit Christianity
http://www.freetruth.info