"I Heard It Through The Grapevine"

By John Stallings

Once I was asked to speak at a church banquet. As I rose to speak, people were finishing their deserts & still engaged in small talk.

Not being all that used to speaking under these conditions, I just stood there & looked out at the folk. The Pastor who understood the room said to me, “Tell them to SSssssshhhh.” I didn’t want to do it but finally I leaned into the mike and said, SSSssssshhhh, in a gentle but firm way. As I did I noticed things slightly quiet down. The Pastor’s wife then spoke up & said “Bro. Stallings, tell them louder to SSSsssshhhhh. I looked at her & said, “Does that work?” She answered, “It’s the only thing that does work.”

Well, I SSSSssshhhed them again a little louder & this time they looked as if a gunshot had gone off. I finally had my audience & all it took was a fairly loud SSssssshhhhh. Everyone seemed fine with it. I’ve thought many times about that & wondered why we human beings respond so well to SSssssshhh.

I can remember many times as a child when my Mother would just say SSshhh to us. Often that’s all she would say & it usually got the job done. Sometimes, if the ssshhh wasn’t heeded -things got a little rougher. [She was quite an accomplished pincher.] Maybe it was even the first thing she ever said to me as baby, sssshhhhh it’s o.k., be quiet son—Sssssshhhh. There,- there-sssshhhh.

Some time back I was going through a stressful patch & somehow a compulsion hit me to just talk-talk-talk about it to anyone who would listen. One night as I meditated, I distinctly heard God’s voice whisper to me, “son, ssshhhhhhh. Give it a rest. Stop dwelling on the problem son, you’re making too big a thing out of this. Put it in perspective. SSSssssshhhhh. Keep it low key-low key—easy-does-it, keep the problem small in your mind.”

Yes, God said exactly that to me in my spirit. I was stunned in a way but then as usual I began to see God’s point. I was so revved up that I had the problem all out of proportion.

Friend believe me, this isn’t me talking now. I have failed as much as anybody in the words department. But as I said, it’s what God is saying to & through me. He’s saying, “Stand back, take a deep breath & relax. Sssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

I remember an actor named Larry Hagman who for many years played J.R on the TV show Dallas. I read that one day a week he wouldn’t talk to anyone , he’d wear a sign on his chest saying “please excuse me I’m not talking today, It’s my day of silence.” I think Larry had a good idea. Sometimes a little peace & quiet is fine. God bless you Larry!

We lose power with too much talk.

Even Samson wouldn’t have gotten into trouble if he’d kept his mouth closed. He lost his power because he wanted to talk & when he spoke he gave away the secret of his power.

Have you ever talked until you were just totally tired out? Talking takes the strength out of you. Ask any preacher or teacher. In WW11 there was a big promotion in American called “Loose lips sink ships.” They observed that when people were loose in their talk about the work they were doing, for some reason more bad things happened

Perhaps that’s why David said in Psalm 141:3 “Set a watch Oh Lord before my mouth keep the door of my lips.” Lord, help me to SSSSssssshhhhhhhh.

I once heard a man say, “I can tell you what I know & I can tell you what I think, which one do you want to hear?” Believe me, telling what we know takes lot’s less time doesn’t it? However most of the time when we talk we don’t make a clear distinction between the two.

WE SHOULD BE WARY OF IDLE CHATTER

Jesus said in Matthew 12:36, “But I say unto you that every idle word that men speak they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment.” This is speaking of idle gossip. Frightening isn’t it? How often have you heard these words, “you didn’t hear this from me?” That opener will usually start a statement off that will be hurtful to someone. Believe it or not, very often the reason for the statement is to hurt someone. The definition of Gossip is; “Rumor or talk of a personal or sensational nature, someone who habitually spreads sensational or intimate facts.” We have all seen the gossip rags in grocery stores & sadly that’s where America’s mind set is these days. Too bad we Christians aren’t exempt, but we aren’t. We seem to crave it as much as anyone.

MANY DON’T SEEM TO BE AWARE THAT LOOSE AND IDLE TALK IS WRONG

Have you ever wondered why people continue to engage in such a harmful practice? The answer is many faceted. Many seem to feel its o.k. because we get away with it. We do it & nothing bad happens to us immediately. Other folk do it because they’ve never heard a reliable source talk or teach on it. And maybe it’s this; some are too rebellious to stop gossiping.

Proverbs 9; 8 tells us “A scoffer who is rebuked will only hate you; the wise when rebuked will love you.” In other words, when some hear the truth they’ll decide if they like it & if not they will discard it.

It is obvious that gossip isn’t a popular subject but it sure as a popular thing to do.

James 3:5-8 says, “So also the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it boasts great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire. And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptile and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil full of deadly poison.”{NASB}.

The tongue can’t be tamed outside a divine intervention of the Holy Ghost; just as a wild animal it can be trained. God’s Word places the practice of gossip in serious categories. In Romans 1:29-30 it is among sins like deceit, malice, slander and arrogance, and is called deceiving and defamatory, accompanied by cruelty and pride.

In 11 Timothy 3; 1-3 we find another Pauline list of vices & sins & God places gossip right in the middle of it. Is it any wonder that one of the Ten Commandments is, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor?”

We can say what we will but that which slips from our lips is a dead give- away of what’s in our hearts. The Psalmist David cried out, “let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight Oh Lord my rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19; 14.

GOSSIP IS A DEVILISH GENIUS- IT GIVES A DRUG-LIKE EFFECT AS IT SWINGS BETWEEN LIFTING US UP AND PUTTING SOMEONE ELSE DOWN.

Isn’t it amazing how fake we can be sometimes? Have you ever seen someone run another person down & practically demonize them & almost in the next breath walk up to that person & embrace them like they were long lost buddies? We seem to feel that we can make our hum-drum lives better & feel better about ourselves if we run someone else down. The real issue isn’t so much about the other person as it is our own mentality & self-portrait. And maybe we also possess just a dash of criticism of God & the way He made the other person.

Listen to how hellish the Corinthians sound in 11 Corinthians 12:20. “For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.”

Read that verse sometime & also read the verse after it. Friend I don’t know about you but that sounds like hell to me, -but it’s written to Christians.

Over the years I have personally witnessed how gossip has affected friendships. The arrogance of others has cost me pain from lies &, just as important, half-truths that were spread about me. Perhaps you’ve experienced the same. I don’t share this out of bitterness but say it in the spirit of openness & honesty. I never want my words to ever cause anyone the pain vicious gossip has cost me.

As God’s people, what do we possibly have to gain by this? It does nothing but separate & destroy us. We are, & have been too long, destroying the Kingdom of God He has so graciously provided.

The good news is that we can beat this quagmire if we come together & put forth an effort to be real with each other & learn again to love as Jesus taught us to love.

SSSSSSSSSSSSssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Blessings,

John