Opinions Please

[OCC]

Originally posted by jdcanady:
King James

I don't understand why you think a person's name has to be given in order for it to be gossip. Please explain your reasoning.

And what ends up on the news is not the same as what ends up on a Christian debate board.

jdcanady, no...what ends up on here is no different from the news. Both mediums are being used to explain something that happened.

If a pastor is to be held to a higher standard then this is obviously not gossip. It is not gossip when you don't give the people's names and sometimes it's not even gossip when you do give the people's names as long as what you are saying is TRUE. Gossip depends on certain factors, one being the person's motive and YOU don't know her motive.

I have one more reason why it is not gossip. Because you are sitting here participating IN THE POST!! How can you participate and then condemn it as gossip? Now...if this IS gossip then I would assume all the things said about TS all over the boards that I HAVE read would be considered gossip as well, no???

TS, you're welcome. It is absolutely amazing and sad to see the kinds of things people have said about you all over the board. Just consider the source...that it's par for the course.

 

[jdcanady]

King James

The pastor is held to a higher standard; by God. The only qualification for a pastor in the pastoral epistles that doesn't apply to every single Christian is the ability to teach. The rest is simply validation that he is living a Christian life. The pastor is a member of the church and is subject to the same discipline as anyone else, as outlined in Matt. 18.

There are times when public sin needs to be rebuked in public. The benefit is to all who have seen the posts to know what was said was inappropriate. I base that belief on Paul's confrontation of Peter.

The definition of gossip does not make it necessary to include a person's name. It doesn't even matter if the comments are true. It is gossip if you repeat personal, scandalous information. It also doesn't have to include motives. BTW, I told TexasSky plainly that I did not know her motivations for the post. IMO, motivations do not matter. The nature of the information is what makes it gossip.

I do think that many of the comments made by some about TexasSky were inappropriate. Some fall into the category of gossip. They were inappropriate to post. I should not have called TexasSky a gossipmonger. That was too strong and I apologized to her for that. I do believe what she posted was gossip, however. I will continue to tell her so in Christian love with the hope she will be convicted of her sin and repent.

 

[following-Him]

Following him,

I posted it because I really felt guilty about not telling my friend to tell the search committee what they knew. I came to what I thought was a Christian community, so I could ask for Christian advice anonymously. If this community had indicated to me that the committee had a right to know, I would have gone back and said, "Be totally honest."

You really feel you need an online Christian community to tell you to

Be totally honest

? Oh come on please. This situation need never have been aired here. Who leads you spiritually? an online community or the Holy Spirit??

Followinghim

 

[OCC]

jd..."It is gossip if you repeat personal, scandalous information."

given that definition...all personal, scandalous stories in the Bible would be gossip. So would the news.

 

[OCC]

"The pastor is held to a higher standard; by God. The only qualification for a pastor in the pastoral epistles that doesn't apply to every single Christian is the ability to teach. The rest is simply validation that he is living a Christian life. The pastor is a member of the church and is subject to the same discipline as anyone else, as outlined in Matt. 18."

hence the fact it is not gossip. By the way, I didn't say the pastor was not held to a higher standard. I said "if" for a reason. It should have been obvious that I believe the pastor is held to a higher standard. Hence the fact it is not gossip.