Bla... bla... bla...

There was once a story told to me. It goes like this:

There was once an old preacher. He was very loved by the townspeople. Every week, he would preach, evangelize, help and do counsel people. He loved the people. One day, the cleaner of the church was cleaning the church and she saw that the pastor's office door was left ajar. She looked in and saw the preacher there with a lady. She was puzzled. What was the preacher doing in the church with a lady? She walked the streets and met a young man. "Hey lady! Why you looking so puzzled?" he asked. And she told the young chap her story. "I think they are having an affair" she ended. Word got round and the rumours passed around like wild fire to the point that the it was uncontrollable and the preacher had to leave. The cleaner lady felt very guilty that she went and sought forgiveness from the preacher. The preacher gave her a bag of feathers. "Do these things for me and I will forgive you. Throw these feathers all around town and come back here." And she did so. Then the preacher said "now, go collect every feather back, not one less. Then bring it to me and you're forgiven." "How is that possible??" she exclaimed. "The wind would have blown it all away!" The preacher smiled. "And so it is with rumours." and he left.

James reminds us how dangerous our tongue can be. But let us look at something that Paul said. "But avoid irrelevent babble, for it will lead people into more ungodliness" (2 Timothy 2:16, ESV). How true these words are. Look at the story above. Not only was the preacher affected but the people were too. The Bible states that blabble, gossip and all is ungodliness. If so, weren't the people involved in ungodliness? Then, the lady not only destroyed the preacher and his ministry but also caused the townspeople to dabble in ungodliness. Let us learn from what Paul said: to avoid irrelevent babble. So the next time you want to babble, stop and think again. Don't just bla... bla... bla.......