Benji was in the preaching competition at the WOL Teens Involved regional level. He spoke on gossip using the title "You're Not Going to Believe What I Just Heard" Benj qualified to go on to the national competition but will leaving with his family to spend one year in Japan where they are helping open an SYME discipleship training center. It was neat to watch him grow in his public speaking ability through this opportunity.

“YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE WHAT I’VE HEARD”
One day 4 pastors met together for lunch. And while they were talking one of them said, "You know, we're all good friends ... and we all struggle with things.
But when we have personal problems ... who can we, as pastors, go to, to talk about them? How about … if we talk about our secret struggles … with each other ..., man to man?" They all agreed ... and the first pastor spoke ... and he confessed that he drank too much alcohol. He said, "I know I should quit ... but it’s really hard to stop." The other three gasped. They didn’t know he drank. The second one said, "Wow, you were really honest. So I will tell you that my problem is … that I gamble. My wife doesn’t even know it. But because of my gambling I owe several thousand dollars. I've even been tempted to take money from the church offerings. The third pastor starting sweating as he spoke, "My secret struggle is that … I am falling in love with a woman in my congregation. And she is married. I can't stop thinking about her." During this time the fourth pastor had not said anything. He was very quiet. The other pastors tried to get him to tell his struggle. He hesitated and then he said, ... "Oh, I don't know how I can tell you about my problem." "Oh, it's all right. We all told you ours. And we'll keep your secret safe" they told him. He said, "Well ..., my secret struggle is … gossiping ... and I can't believe what you guys just told me. I don't know how long I can keep this a secret!

Have you ever had someone come to you and say, “You’re not going to believe what I heard.”? What is that? Almost always it is a rumor. The Bible calls it tale-bearing, evil-speaking and gossip. Did you know that the Bible talks a lot about gossip?

Today I would like to share with you what the Bible says that we should do when someone whispers to us, “You’re not going to believe this.” If it is a rumor, if it is gossip …

#1. WE ARE TO FROWN ON GOSSIP (Proverbs 25:23). Proverbs 25:23 says, “The north wind drives away rain; so does an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.” A “backbiting tongue” is words that are said behind someone’s back, where they can’t hear them. And this verse says that just like the north wind drives away rain so an angry countenance (A FROWN) will drive away a backbiting tongue. When someone starts to gossip about someone else don’t laugh (HA, HA), don’t lean closer, don’t show you are interested. Let them know by your expressions that it is not good, you don’t like this. Gossip is one of the things that God says He extremely hates (Leviticus 19:16; Psalm 101:5; Proverbs 6:16-19) so we shouldn't like it either. Your angry countenance will stop gossip. Remember the one who speaks evil about others to you will also speak evil about you to others. When someone whispers to us, “You’re not going to believe this.” If it is a rumor, if it is gossip …what are we to do? We are to #1 ___________ ON GOSSIP.

#2. WE ARE TO SEND THEM TO THE ONE BEING GOSSIPED ABOUT (Matthew 18:15). In Matthew 18:15 Jesus said: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell his faults to OTHERS ... RIGHT!? NO!!! He said, “if your brother sins against you, go and tell his fault between you and him alone." Don’t gossip.
It doesn’t help anybody to tell others. The way to help someone is to go and talk to him. Do it in love. Do it humbly (Galatians 6:1). Don’t accuse. At first, ask questions because maybe it is a misunderstanding. Then if wrong has been done let him know how hard it is for you to talk about this. Let them know how much you care about them. And let him know that you want to help him to get this made right. When someone whispers to us, “You’re not going to believe this.” If it is a rumor, if it is gossip …what are we to do? We are to #1 ___________ ON GOSSIP. #2 WE ARE TO SEND THEM TO THE ONE BEING ____________ ABOUT.

#3. WE ARE TO DEFEND THOSE WHO ARE BEING FALSELY ACCUSED (Titus 3:3 and Ephesians 4:31). Titus 3:3 and Ephesians 4:31 say that Christians are not to speak evil about anyone to others. When someone is gossiping about another person, that person doesn’t know it is happening.
He is not there to defend himself. He is helpless and defenseless and yet his reputation is being ruined and destroyed. In Scripture our God is called a defender and the defenseless and a helper to the helpless (Psalm 72:12).
And as Christians we are called to be godly. We are to copy or imitate God (Ephesians 5:1). We are to be just and fair and right like God. So, if God helps the helpless and defends the defenseless, we should too. So when someone whispers to us, "You're not going to believe this"...what should we do? Tell me #1 We should __________ on gossip. #2 We should send them to the one they are _________________ about. And #3 We are to ________________ those being falsely accused.

In the late 1800's one of France's greatest short-story writers, Guy de Paupassant, told how a French peasant was walking into a village on market day. On the way he saw a piece of string lying on the ground. He reached down and picked it up. But as he did, he realized someone was watching him. It was his enemy, a man that he had fought with before. Later in the day the town crier made a public announcement that a pocketbook containing 500 francs had been
lost. A little while later an officer found the peasant and said that the mayor wanted to see him. The mayor told him that he had been seen picking up the lost pocketbook. The peasant said, "No, I didn't! The only think I picked up from the road was this string," and he pulled it out of his pocket. The mayor did not believe his story and soon the news spread through the whole village.
Everyone was laughing about this "thief" who said he only took a piece of string.
The peasant couldn't believe it. He didn't know what to do. That night on the way home he showed three of his neighbors where he found the string and repeated
his story to them but they didn't believe him either. No one believed him. All that night he was sick. The next day the pocketbook was found on another road. When the peasant heard this, he was relieved. He told the story with the happy ending. But STILL people looked at him funny. Some said, "Come, come that's an old trick; I know all about your piece of string." They thought he had put the pocketbook there to be found. When he tried to defend himself, they just laughed at him. Jokers would publicly say, "Tell us about your piece of string."
During the next few days and weeks he got weaker and more sick and finally died. Before he died, people saw him repeating, "a little piece of string...a little piece of string... look here it is."

GOSSIP KILLS! In my sermon today I've given you three biblical tools you can use to stop gossip. However, these 10 minutes will be worthless if we all walk away without applying what we have heard. So before I close I would like for each of you to bow your heads and think through our three points again. First, we are to frown on gossip; Secondly, we are to send people to the one they are gossiping about and Thirdly, we are to defend those who are being falsely accused. So the next time someone comes to you and says, "You're not going to believe what I just heard," which of these tools are you going to use to stop gossip? You may not be able to remember all three of them but I'd like for each of you to at lease choose one that you can say, "God, the next time someone tries to gossip to me, I will use this tool to stop it." When you have chosen your tool, take a moment to ask God to help you to use it. When you've done that, please raise your hand so that I'll know you are finished.