Galatians 5:26 Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another.

A preacher asked a lady, who had worked at a bar, what attracted people to go to the bar. What kept them coming back? She told the preacher that the reason people attended bars so regularly was because it was like a family there. They all knew each other and were happy to see each other. She said a person could walk into a bar and know they wouldn't be judged by the others there. Everyone was accepted unconditionally as an equal. They were family. This lady's description of a bar should be the description of a church! If churches were as people friendly as bars, maybe there would be more people in the churches and fewer in the bars.

I remember a day when a church member called me and started gossiping about various church members. They didn't just pass along mild information. This person was vicious in their comments. I knew the person was going through some very difficult times. The image they had established in the church and community was beginning to crumble along with their business. As a result they reacted by making others look bad in order to try to improve the way they looked. I didn't know how to stop the conversation without being rude. The person eventually ran out of church members to talk about and started complaining about the wineries that have come into our valley. They finally stopped talking long enough to wait for me to agree with them about the wineries. Instead of agreeing, I told them that gossip is a lot more harmful than wine. Gossip spreads very quick and far. It's almost impossible to stop it once it gets started. The result of it is friendships destroyed, families hurt, churches divided, and often people are left scarred for life.

Unfortunately,  gossip is a problem in the family of God. It seems to be a common activity in churches to pick each other apart. I wonder how empty the bars would be if the churches offered the same friendship and unconditional acceptance that people find in a bar. Being people friendly would be what would draw people to our churches. The message of Jesus is what would keep them there.

It's not just the sermon that delivers the message of Jesus. Our conversations should be full of the love of Jesus and how He affects our lives. Our whole focus should not be on what someone else is doing or what they look like, but it should be completely on Jesus.  If we're focusing on Jesus, we can't be so focused on the activities of others.   Our minds should be on Jesus, our conversations about Jesus.  We should encourage each other in our walk with Jesus. All the other stuff will fade away and we will be the family God meant us to be.