05.00.01 Preface
Preface
A person may wonder why I have chosen to write a whole book on ‘negative gossip’ and how to defeat the notorious vice. However, it is no hidden secret that bad rumours have ravaged homes, offices, churches and the community; irrespective of people’s genders, professions; age groups and other demographics. In fact, some years back, I conducted a small survey as part of my consultancy work, to curiously explore the ‘dissatisfiers’ that were preventing some of our course participants from performing as expected by their employers and other stakeholders. As it turned out, negative gossip was on top of the list; to the extent that some entities braved inviting me for talks on how to manage the vice. Truth be told, negativegossip leaves a trail of unpalatable consequences for gossipers and their victims, underscoring the urgent need to address the problem.
Can you imagine that negative gossip was the very first sin that a human being committed? Chapter 3 of Genesis narrates how, of all the traps that the devil could have concocted to cheat ‘Man’ of his position, the devil used the very gossip to shoot down Adam and Eve’s God-given opportunity for prosperity as reported in Genesis 1:22. That scripture narrates how God had wired us up to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it; and to have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves on the earth. It was on such a background that the serpent ferried the devil’s ground-breaking negative gossip to Eve, moreover questioning ‘God and His instructions’ as the headline. Genesis 3:1-7 reports the fateful conversation (NKJV): 1Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”2And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
Unfortunately, the devil’s destructive and false negative gossip caught Eve ungrounded in the ‘whole’ truth of God’s Word. First, the couple did not have to eat the fruit in order to be like God since He had already created them in His image and according to His likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). Second, God never prohibited the pair from touching the tree as He expected them to tend it alongside all other plants in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). In other words, the restriction was only ‘not to eat the fruit of that tree’. To cut a very long story short, the couple ended up disobeying God by eating the forbidden fruit! From there, not only had the seed of negative gossip been sown in Man, but the vice disconnected Adam and Eve from their God-given position and enterprise (Genesis 3:22-24).
Even today, although Man’s restoration was made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (John 10:10b, AMP), negative gossip continues to disconnect people from the prosperous life that God intended for them to have. Therefore, the importance of knowing how to defeat negative gossip cannot be overemphasised. That is what this book is all about.
As we begin our journey through this book, it is important to introduce a few terms. The ‘grapevine’ refers to an informal information network within the organisation, while ‘a rumour’ is information that is ferried via the grapevine. ‘Gossip’ specifically relates to rumours about a person’s private affairs behind his or her back; and can also apply to confidential issues of institutions or entities. However, in this book, we shall use the two words, ‘rumours’ and ‘gossip’, interchangeably. In addition, gossip can be either positive or negative as we shall see later. Nonetheless, this book is mainly about ‘negative gossip’.
The book features several narratives including my personal encounter with negative gossip; a fictitious story entitled The Gossip Mill at JuaLink Media Agency, as well as several bible stories featuring Nehemiah, Miriam, Aaron and other bible characters; so as to expound on the topic of Negative Gossip.
It is my hope that by reading this book, you will learn how to break free from the toxic cycle of negative gossip and build relationships as well as the reputation and life that you deserve.
I wish you an impactful reading experience.
Joyce Margaret Christine Nyabongo
(aka Joy Nyabongo)