It’s amazing how radically your perspective changes just by making some tweaks to your thinking here and there. Agreement with others’ definitions is just one of those areas. I hadn’t realized how many areas of belief I had assumed simply because I was taught a certain interpretation and stuck with it.

Once I realized the freedom I had to question, think for myself, and apprehend truth that was not hiding from me…the results were amazing. Knowing God doesn’t fault me for this mind I have that thinks, analyzes, reasons and asks the hard questions is so liberating. I have spent far too long apologizing for that ability He gave to me. And I spent most of that time apologizing to people who were unwilling to use their own minds.

One area I assumed I had understood correctly was that of gossip. However, the nagging questions remained that were concerned with my sense of justice being violated.

When something happened that was truly an injustice, or sin, why was it wrong of me to point that out? Why did the person who noticed the injustice become guilty as well? And what of the injustice? Why had God shown it to me if I was to do nothing? What purpose did that serve?

I’ve heard all the teachings on prophecy and discernment…”discernment is never a cause to fault-finding but to intercession.” I’ve quoted that I don’t know how many times myself. Why the leap to intercession as the only proper response to discernment? Why does speaking out against injustice imply a lack of love, self-control, or humility?

I’ll tell you why: because you have been conditioned all your church-life to think so. It’s another way we ultimately become passive and allow the greater injustices to remain unchecked. It doesn’t start this way..we begin by telling ourselves that because we are also sinners, we should not judge others.

I agree that gossip is sinful. The Bible is clear on this. But, gossip has been determined to be sinful because of our emotional response. Don’t be fooled: It is our emotional response that is under attack really, not the action of gossip. Gossip is one manifestation of our emotional response to an injustice we perceive.

So, teachers have incorrectly taught us that gossip is wrong because our emotional response is wrong. And if we want to stop gossipping, then we better change our emotional response to do so. Just get over it they say.

This is a dangerous assumption to make because it says that we don’t have the right to own our own emotions, whatever the sum of them may be. Make no mistake: That is a HUGE distinction they are making.  If I can’t own my emotional response, then I don’t own myself. And this is precisely the point. If you surrender the right to your emotional responses, whatever they are, then you surrender the right to your mind, and your very life.

The emotional response is not sinful in and of itself. The injustice perceived is certainly sinful, and of course gossip as a response is. So if gossip is not sinful because the emotional response that prompts gossip is not wrong, then why is gossip sinful?

What happens when people have their hands tied? They cannot take action. They continue to see the injustice before them as clearly as ever but remain powerless to do anything about it. Why are they powerless? Well, that is another post. But it begins with their belief that they are, but in fact they are not.

When someone sees an injustice they have two responses: action or inaction. Passive or aggressive response. Many say that if anything, intercession is the best response to seeing an injustice. They have at least taken the half step to realizing that taking no action inevitably results in gossip. By praying about something, you are at least taking some form of action.

People who gossip are people who are too fearful to take action. They refuse to exercise faith, either by means of intercession or by means of another action. Certainly speaking out against the injustices discerned is action that is acceptable.

So the next time you see an injustice..take action. If you remain passive, you will invariably gripe, grumble and complain. And if those you confront about the injustice trot out the ol’ “you’re not trusting our authority” or you are complaining…point out to them that what they define as complaining you see as taking action. And don’t apologize for it.

If we allow those in leadership to deny us the ability to own our emotional responses, we will never have the freedom to take action for any injustice. We will doubt what we discern, feel guilty as a result of our discernment, and begin gossipping when it becomes too much to bear.

Don’t let them attack your emotional response – anger, love, pain, depression..whatever it is, it’s yours. God has given us powerful emotions for a purpose. Don’t surrender them to someone else to manipulate and determine how you deal with them.