05.04.14 The 12th Driver of Negative Gossip

12. Meddling Tendencies

Another common driver of negative gossip is the ‘meddling’ habit, which is about poking one’s nose into people’s affairs. In other words, the gossipers ‘take it upon themselves’ to discuss victims’ personal or private issues, distracting their colleagues from jobs or chores in the process. In 1 Timothy 5:13, Paul cautioned Timothy against such people. That scripture reads (AMP): ¹³Now at the same time, they also learn to be idle as they go from house to house; and not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies [meddlers in things that do not concern them], talking about things they should not mention.

In Nehemiah 6:5-7, we see Sanballat a Samaritan, Tobiah an Ammonite and Geshem an Arab, using negative gossip to try meddling in political issues of the Jews which, in my understanding, were actually none of their business. Let us revisit that scripture (NKJV): ⁵Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. ⁶In it was written: It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. ⁷And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, “There is a king in Judah!” Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come, therefore, and let us consult together

Reading our JuaLink story, you discover that Lulu and her clique would habitually meddle into affairs that were ‘none of their business’. For instance, one cannot imagine how much time they spent discussing Faraja’s gynecological issues during lunch hour fellowships.