Fran & Jesus on the Job - Gossip
Thursday, November 11th, 2010The audio portion of this broadcast is no longer available on-line.
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Send to friendDo people gossip where you work–or where you go to church - or in your neighborhood? It’s a silly question isn’t it? Gossip is one of the ugliest, most harmful things in our society, and yet far too often we as believers find ourselves right in the middle of it. Our friend Fran falls into this gossip trap.
As she arrives at work this Tuesday morning, the phone is ringing as she walks in the door, and it’s Andy, her coworker in the Art Department a couple of floors up. Fran’s husband was tragically killed over five years ago, and Fran had to go back to work to support their two small children. Andy has been a good friend to Fran, and Fran keeps praying that she will be a good witness to him.
"How's Brenda feeling this morning?" Fran asks about Andy’s wife. She is diabetic and has to really watch her diet and exercise.
"Well, it’s tough, you know. She has to cook for us and then she often can’t eat what we’re eating. But she works hard at doing the right things," Andy reports.
"Good. What’s up?" Fran asks Andy. They go over a couple of business-related items, and then the conversation takes another direction.
"Hey, by the way," Andy says, "did you know that Bill Best is leaving the company?"
"No kidding?" Fran says. "Why?"
"I'm not sure, but the gossip is that he was told to resign or be fired," Andy answers.
"But he's VP of human resources and he's been here – what–20 years or more," Fran says. "Why would they ask him to resign? He is a very nice person."
"I heard he had been caught in some unethical dealings—something to do with purchasing stock and having inside information," Andy tells her. "I heard he was threatened with criminal prosecution, but they're letting him off easy."
"Are you sure, Andy?" Fran asks.
"Well, that’s what the guys up here are saying," he adds, “and they usually know what’s happening. If you hear anything else, let me know. I gotta run."
As she hangs up, Fran is really concerned about this bad news. Bill has been very nice to her and seemed to think highly of her. He had asked her to be a part of a task force last year, representing marketing, and she had an opportunity at lunch one day to tell him about her faith in Christ. In fact, she's been praying for him. Wow, this is very shocking news!
At lunch Fran tells Louise the story. "Can you believe it, Louise? Bill Best of all people–caught red-handed in an unethical stock transaction. Something about inside information. Andy said they could have prosecuted him if they had chose to, so they're doing him a favor letting him resign."
"My goodness," Louise responds, "I find that hard to believe. Bill was one of the nicest people in this whole company. You just never know, do you Fran?"
"No, I guess not," Fran replies. "There's that old greedy sin nature again, and even nice people can fall victims of greed. Without Jesus, Louise, we're capable of anything."
They talk a few more minutes and head back to work. Later on that day, another coworker, Ray from accounting, stops into Fran's office. "Hey, Fran, I've got some questions on this latest invoice from Stranton. Can you help me?"
"Sure," she says and together they spend fifteen minutes straightening out the invoice. As Ray is starting to leave, Fran says, "Ray, did you hear about Bill Best?"
"Yeah, isn't that a bummer?" he says. "Bill's one of the good guys; I really hate to see him leave. Wonder why he's leaving after all these years."
"You mean you haven't heard?" Fran asks. "Nope, I'm just a bean counter, Fran, nobody talks to me," he laughs at himself.
"Well, the inside scoop is that he's been caught in an unethical stock deal and they're doing him a favor not to fire him," Fran informs Ray.
"No way," he responds in shock.
"Well, even the good ones can fall, Ray," Fran says. "Money is a corrupter."
"Wait 'til I tell Joan. You know, Joan, my manager. She thinks Bill Best is god practically. Oh, man, this is going to wipe her out. Well, I better run," he says as he leaves her office, in a bit of a rush.
"Wait, Ray," Fran calls after him, "maybe you shouldn’t tell anyone until we know for sure..." But it’s too late. Ray is out of earshot.
Fran is ready to leave her office this Tuesday afternoon, when Marty, an administrative assistant in another department, stops by. "Hey, you wouldn't have time for a cup of coffee before you go home, would you?" she asks. It's a strange request and she looks troubled.
Fran looks at her watch. "Well, I've got about 15 minutes—is that enough?"
"Sure," Marty answers, "let's stop at McDonald's across the street."
As they sit down, Marty says, "You heard about Bill Best."
"Yeah," Fran replies. "Very sad, isn't it?"
"You know, Fran, he hired me 15 years ago, and the man's been like a father to me. It's just killing me to think he's been caught in something unethical."
"How'd you hear about it?" Fran asks.
"Joan told me—you know, Joan in accounting," she says.
"Oh," Fran replies, and she realizes that Joan probably learned it from Ray, who learned it from Fran, who learned it from Andy. Suddenly, Fran gets a queasy feeling in her stomach. She hadn't thought about it up 'til now, but she realizes she's become the source of gossip and she's not even sure of her facts.
"Well," she stammers to Marty, "maybe it's not as bad as it sounds. There's two sides to every story, you know."
"Fran, Joan wouldn't tell me something like that if she didn't know for sure," Marty says. Fran's stomach does another somersault. "She said it was something to do with stock and inside information. She said he made a bundle of money just before the company went through that downsizing last year and they caught him."
"But we don't know that for sure," Fran tries to back pedal and stop the gossip before it goes any further. "I mean, it's just a rumor at this point, right?"
"Did you see Bill today, Fran?" Marty asks. "He looked like death warmed over. It was written all over his face. He wouldn't even look me in the eye when he walked past me, and he was in a rush to get out. It's true, Fran."
"But we don't know for sure," she says again, lamely and sadly.
Now, keep in mind, Fran didn't spread this rumor with an attitude of gossip or malice. She likes Bill a lot, and it was in concern that she told Louise and Ray. But what she failed to do was check out her facts, for one thing. And then she forgot to put some controls on her tongue. Now the story has gone full circle and come back to her, like that old gossip game we used to play, distorted and exaggerated, and it finally begins to dawn on Fran that she has played a critical role in spreading this rumor.
As she gets home from work Tuesday evening, she dials Andy's number as quickly as possible. No answer. After she gets the kid's supper ready and has them eating, she excuses herself and calls again. He's finally home.
"Oh, hi..." Andy says, surprised to get a call from her at home.
"Andy, are you sure of your facts that you told me about Bill Best? Do you know for sure he was accused of unethical behavior?" she verbally accosts him.
"What?" Andy is caught off guard. "Why? What's the problem?"
"Well, you just shouldn't be telling me things like that if they're not true," Fran keeps going, with anger in her voice.
"Fran, I told you it was what I had heard from the guys upstairs," Andy defends himself. "Besides, I told you not to tell anyone else. You didn't, did you?"
"You never told me that, Andy!" Fran exclaims. "Yes, I told some people."
"Oh, good grief, Fran, why'd you do that?" Andy is upset. "Who'd you tell?"
"Well, that's not the point," she says. "The point is you never should have told me if it wasn't the truth."
"Hey, Fran, I didn't tell another soul about it but you, and I expected you to have more sense than to blab it to everybody else in the company. I'm sure I told you not to tell anyone," Andy continues.
"Oh, right," Fran says, "blame it all on me. I don't believe it!"
"Hey, mom, what's the matter?" Drew has come into the family room as he hears his mom upset.
"Nothing, Drew," she answers him in frustration. "Just go back and finish dinner and mind your own business."
"Well, don't take it out on him," Andy says, as he hears all that from his end of the phone.
"Thanks a lot, Andy, but I don't need any advice on how to raise my kids. Good-bye!" she says.
Whoa! And how did all this start? With gossip. Solomon was right; it separates close friends.
As Fran wakes Wednesday morning, she asks herself: "Why did you pass on information you didn't know was true?"
She tries to blame Andy because he’s the one who told her this gossip about Bill Best. But the Spirit of God won’t let her get by with that. She knows that what comes out of her mouth is her responsibility
But she's not ready to confront her sin, so, quickly she gets up and gets busy. Activity is one way she tries to block out the voice of Jesus.
As she arrives at work that morning, feeling just awful inside, her manager, comes into her office. "Fran, do you know that somebody has started a vicious rumor about Bill Best and why he's leaving the company, and there's not one word of truth to it. He's just been diagnosed with cancer of the lungs and they give him maybe six months to live, but he didn't want people to know before he left. And now, I hear this rumor that he was asked to resign because of something unethical. I just can't believe how cruel people can be."
Fran remains very quiet; she is devastated by what Marilyn tells her. After Marilyn leaves, Fran drops in her chair and lowers her head on her desk. This is the worst thing I've ever done, she thinks to herself. How could it happen?
Well, obviously Fran has got some serious mending to do, with the Lord and some other people. Gossip is not a game to play; gossip is malicious and harmful and it can cause irreparable damage to people and relationships.
Slipping into the gossip mode is easy to do. Fran never intended to become a gossiper. She relied on the accuracy of her information because it came from someone she trusted. She didn't check out her facts, but even if the facts had been true, there was no need whatsoever to pass this on. And in the end she's caused harm to an innocent man, damaged her relationship with Andy, and probably lost some respect from her coworkers. A big price to pay for passing on rumors.
I want to challenge you to memorize Ephesians 4:29:
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
And pray that verse every morning into your life. If you and I practice this verse, it will stop gossip dead in its tracks.
