Boxers or Briefs?

      It used to be that the place to get gossip about famous people was in magazines or newspapers kept by the checkout in grocery stores.  Their content was known as "yellow journalism" and both those that wrote for them and those that read them were looked down on a bit, or at least they were seen as a guilty pleasure.   Although popular enough to make a profit, they were seen as less than respectable.
       Now we seem to have made a national obsession of such news that such content is now a staple of news magazines, newspapers,  network TV news shows, and their on-line counterparts.  You can hear who is dating or divorcing whom, or who has gained or lost weight, or whose in the middle of a juicy scandal right along with the world news of leaders of state, war, or the economy.  Far from being seen as a sin, gossip has become big business.  Not only are billions of dollars made from selling magazines, papers, and shows, but mega amounts of money are paid for photographs, private information, tips, and stories.
       Sometimes, we cover our want for gossip by telling ourselves and others that we need or want to know because we care.  We may even extend this "caring" to people that we will likely never meet.   We seem to have lost our expectation of privacy both for the famous and for each other so it is easy to get caught up in gossip.  It might not matter so much except that what we come to "know" is not always true and it changes as it spreads from person to person.  The other part of the problem is that we all too easily judge others by this information and react emotionally before we even know the truth.
       I wish I could say this is different in the church but as is all too clear these days; there is just as much gossip, mis-information, and emotional reaction in the Christian community.   It can create a great deal of pain, hard feelings, division, and confusion.  We can deceive ourselves by insisting that we are just trying to stand up for the truth but it works against community in Christ just the same.
       Whether we're talking about Brad Pitt, the church, or a neighbor, scripture has advice for us.  In his letter to the church in Ephesus (the book of Ephesians), Paul writes in chapter 4 and 5 about this topic.  He asks the people to bear one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit.  We are one body (even when we don't want to claim everyone) and we have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is above, through, and in all things.  The word is very clear on this point: our unity comes from and through Jesus Christ and not what we have said or done or accomplished.
       Not only our unity, but also our salvation comes from what Jesus has done and not ourselves.  As Paul writes, "you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing: it is the gift of God - not the result of works" (Ephesians 3:8-9).  This being true, there is nothing left for us to judge each other about because ultimately we are all saved by grace.  It is what Jesus has done that matters in the end.  As people of faith, our conversation is to reflect this grace and love, using talk to help each other, build up community, and give grace to each other.
       The goal we are to aim for is to live as God's beloved children; to live in love as Christ loved us.  Read Ephesians 4:25-32.