Last week I texted a friend that we needed a good chinwag. I know that’s an archaic term, but I meant we needed a nice long talk to catch up on what is going on in our lives. Social distancing and isolation has robbed us of time with our friends, of connecting.
After I used that term, I thought I had better check. What if it had a negative connotation I was unaware of? So here’s the dictionary definition: an idle chat, gossip. I didn’t mean gossip. So I looked at the thesaurus—confab, gabfest, conversation or discussion, long conversation. Now we’re looking at more what I meant.
I decided to go back to that word in the first definition—gossip. Here’s that definition—idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others. I think that the connotation of that word is negative. What I wanted to do with my friend was simply catch up with her life and share what was going on in my life. I don’t think it is wrong to also share what is happening in the lives of my friends and family. I don’t think that is gossip. But how easy it is to slip from sharing information into making judgments, turning ugly.
In the NASB the word gossip is often preceded by the word malicious—malicious gossip. In I Timothy there is a description of gossips and busybodies talking about things not proper to mention. James 4:11 says “Do not speak against one another.” This suddenly looks as if it could turn into a rant against gossip and the Lord knows we need that in a season of social media dominance, but that’s not what this is meant to be. Instead, it’s a reminder that we need each other and we need each other’s encouragement.
Ephesians 4:29 (NASB) says, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” The same verse in the International Children’s Bible says, “When you talk, do not say harmful things. But say what people need—words that will help others become stronger. Then what you say will help those who listen to you.”
So let’s have a good old chinwag of words that will help others become stronger. Give grace to those who hear. Anyone?
~~Faith Himes Lamb
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