Proverbs 26:20-23 / Don't Feed the Monster
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Proverbs 26:20-26 / Don't Feed the Monster
Proverbs 26:20-26 / Don't Feed the Monster
20 For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
21 As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.
23 Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart.
Chapter 26 is a bunch of comparisons
(like this one)
Verse 20 is brilliant...
Just Stop Feeding the Monster
20 For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
Whisperer (a gossip) is like a person who adds wood to a fire.
Camp -site Fire watch:
have you every been camping and you have the duty of”Fire Watch”? Basically, that the person who stays up and makes sure has burned down so it doesn’t flare up and burn the forrest down while you sleep.
Well, you’re really tired, the fire almost out. Then here comes “that guy” who comes and adds armful of wood to the campfire!!! AAAGH!!!
That’s basically what proverbs 26:20 is illustrating.
Maybe if you simply don’t add fuel to the fire, it would be able to die down and be (at least) more manageable.
DON’T BE THAT GUY.
Think about this...
You’ve heard the saying “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
That is great advice
Well its actually ...also... biblical advice...
11 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
So here is some food for thought.
Sometimes people try to over look an offense
But OTHER PEOPLE will not let it go.
Think about that....
Your gossip could be preventing someone from honoring God in their conflict.
Do you want to do that just for the weird satisfaction of having some juicy Gossip?
We are called to be PEACEMAKERS...
Indeed that’s what they’re trying to do
If you would only let them.
Instead… You are being like verse 21..
21 As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
(You say) Well I may slip at times but I don’t mean any harm. I’m not a quarrelsome person.
Well let’s look at the analogy again. (Pr 26:21)
Charcoal's contribution is to help fire burn...
Hotter & longer
So, does that describe your contribution to a conflict?
Is your contribution (gossip) causing the conflict to burn longer, hotter, or both?
Maybe I do just want to help. How do i know when it’s ok to talk about a problem? (fair question)
Sometimes to extinguish fire
You have to stoke it. (that like counseling)
you open it up and expose the heat
but it will begin to lose heat and die down
So you simply needs to ask yourself...
What is my contribution to this issue?
Is my involvement ...
helping
necessary
This question is also helpful when people are gossiping TO YOU.
Ask, “Why is this person coming to me?”
How is this conversation contributing to the conflict?
Another “contribution” is on Social Media!!!!
Delayed awareness of the issue. (still gossip)
Person reads cryptic post...
They don’t initially know everything… but they remember.
Eventually they get the other pieces of the story
There is the “mechanics” of gossip … here a few realities.
22 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.
Here is something so important to know about gossip… (particularly the whisperer)
The whisperer is offering you something.
Inclusion to an issue.
Inclusion is huge because we want to belong.
There is something VALIDATING about being included in gossip
Tickles our ego.
BUT... the whisperer is not trying to validate you
(at best) They are just validating themselves.
(at worst) They are just stirring up trouble.
We must do two things to combat “The Whisperer”
Accept our inclination to gossip.
Recognize the intentions of a gossip.
We must understand the wicked nature of Gossip and those who engage in it.
We need to have a heart more inline with our saviour
13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Bearing with one another
includes the command to forgive
Put on love.
Unconditional love
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.
It is tempting to pile on gossip
Jesus offered grace over judgment.