05.04.08 The 6th Driver of Negative Gossip

6. Rivalry

Rivalry refers to a state of unfriendly competition, animosity or tension between individuals, members or entities that desire to achieve a similar goal, status or position. Rivalry can prompt someone to negatively gossip about the person who she or he is rivaling against. Such a scenario can be manifested in several ways. At work for example, two people could compete against each other with the aim of getting their supervisor to be impressed with one at the exclusion of the other. For instance, that could happen if they are vying for the same position.

Looking back at our predicament, sometimes I suspect that amongst the people who circulated the negative gossip against us were competitors who felt ‘sour’ that we had ‘taken’ their business opportunities. They could have wanted to compete for the same contracts and recognition that we had received. Therefore, by removing us from the scene through broadcasting the negative rumour; their aspirations would have been very easy to accomplish, rather than competing with us in a fair manner.

Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem saw Nehemiah as a multi-pronged rival in the political, economic, social and spiritual space. Writers relate how, apparently, the three men were high status leaders in Jerusalem's neighborhood. While Sanballat was the governor of Samaria, Tobiah was a highly placed Ammonite official, most likely a governor as well. Geshem, on the other hand, was the governor of Dedan, a region believed to have been in northwest Arabia, which is modern-day Saudi Arabia. On that background, rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was going to showcase the political and military might of the Israelites in the region, plus a comparably higher level of autonomy and dominance. As if that was not enough, a rebuilt Jerusalem would attract thence divert resources, commerce and trade from Sanballat’s, Tobiah's and Geshem’s regions thereby diminishing the economic influence and prosperity of those men and their communities. On top of all things was the display of the immense, reknowned and unmatchable power of Jehovah, on the backdrop of the gods that the three gentile leaders believed in, and a reconnection of the Israelites with that God. Such were the factors that fueled the rivalry that drove Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem to fight tooth and nail to frustrate Nehemiah’s wall-rebuilding project, using negative gossip as one of their prime ‘weapons’.

For the JuaLink story, it was no secret that Lulu regarded Faraja as a rival irrespective of her low qualifications; and that the publicity officer was determined to outshine or outcompete the publicity manager by mudslinging the manager before the director, Eliya. Lulu used negative gossip to portray herself as more competent than Faraja, hoping that Eliya could see the officer as better ‘manager material’.