05.03.06 The 4th Sign of a Negative-Gossip Conversation

4. Verbal Attacks

If a discussion sounds like a verbal attack or harassment and has the potential of provoking conflict, negativity or anxiety, that conversation falls into the category of ‘negative gossip’.

The bible narrates how Joseph suffered from a verbal assault through negative gossip; then narrowly survived being killed by his elder brothers. Apparently, he had shared dreams that indicated that he would be their leader and that they would bow before him one day. The brothers were so offended by his dreams that they planned to eliminate him, and almost succeeded. Their conversation is reported in Genesis 37:18-20 which reads (NKJV): ¹⁸Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! ²⁰Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

In the case of JuaLink, you may recall how Lulu almost dragged Neema into an interaction instigating that Faraja wasa ‘people-user’. Such an insinuation was a verbal attack on Faraja’s personality, character and credibility; and can therefore be classified as negative gossip.

So, check whether the conversation is insulting the victim. Do the assertions about the person match the description that the gossiper is trying to ‘paint’?