Something to Talk About

Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About….is a movie I can relate to. It’s a movie that shows just how communities work on the gossip mill. Being from a small town, where if you don’t know what’s going on with your own life, simply ask the neighborhood, for they know more about your business than you do sometimes! My life was never the type to not be noticed….whether it was that I managed to stick not only my dad’s truck, his tractor, his bigger truck, and a bulldozer trying to get out of a mudhole

I should have never attempted

or that my senior spring the paper ran a front page headline “Miss N WEDS Mr. Hudson” instead of Miss N wins the Hudson Scholarship”… I remember my mom’s horror because she thought that people would think when I did get married that it was a second marriage…little did she know that that was the least of her worries….for there eventually was a third! well, I’ve just had alot of life out loud. The truth is, as a blended family of six, we have always been the center of interest in a small town where we lived in Arkansas, before coming to Alabama…there’s not a quiet or shy one in the bunch of us!

At a recent luncheon of Christian women friends, there was a kinda vibe that was going much like this “Well, you know so and so is struggling with such and such” and the reply would be “you know they’ve always had so much trouble with that” but the shocking thing was then these folks did not say or do anything like “We need to pray for that situation in their lives to resolve, for God to help them ____ to solve it” or “Let’s go tomorrow and drop off some groceries and bless them” Being new among them, I sat quietly and didn’t say a word either….yet I knew it was wrong of me not to! Its not enough to simply not participate…but to sit there and approve of the conversation somehow affirms that it’s okay to talk about others that way…I came home under heavy conviction from the Father. There were a hundred ways I could have positively, without being pointed said “Isn’t it good that we can pray for them? Or “Let’s pray for that situation right now” and call us to action instead of acting! I was so sorry and asked God to forgive me for caring more for what they would think than God would! Folks, its human and natural (and our sinful FLESH nature) to want to judge and notice and detail other’s mistakes, struggles, and realities….but it is CHRISTIAN to evaluate the needs and DO SOMETHING TO HELP! Whether its a sister who is overwhelmed with her young ones when dad is unemployed, sick, or gone and needs a friend to simply help wash the dishes…..or its gently helping a wayward young one learn a new way to respond or dress, by encouraging them, treating the well and loving on them AS THEY ARE instead of making them feel less by criticizing them….as Christians we are called to LOVE one another, not JUDGE or GOSSIP about one another.
In the movie, a married couple with a child fight, then seperate, then slowly rebuild their trust and forgiveness and work out their problems. The interesting thing about the movie is that the dynamic is first the public talks about them because of their happiness, then because of their upset, later because they are seperated and seeing attorneys, and then finally the same gossips and townsfolks talk about them and celebrate with them because they have reconciled….no matter what the state of the union was SOMEONE HAD TO TALK ABOUT IT…..it is human nature girls…..but let’s make sure as women following Jesus…that we are not being allowing our flesh to share gossip, spread rumors, or isolate people further from the love and grace of God! We are called to be a peculiar people….different from those not following Christ…..and one of the definers of that walk is choosing to edify one another and life each other up…..use encouraging words and edification to build others up. If you do have a friend or close one who has fallen or is on a destructive path, speak privately to them about your concerns for them….not share them with other friends of yours and theirs….if what you’re seeing bothers you so much…pray about it, let the Holy Spirit guide you to action, to pray or do lead you to do whatever HE has in mind.

This week I’m sure that we all have done something to talk about……we’re human….and we’re imperfect….but God has given us ALL something to talk about…..Let’s give them what they want….something to talk about…let’s be so different, so loving, such lights in the darkness as we love, serve, share and welcome others into the flock of God’s people and share Christ’s love through our words and actions, that they too will have something to talk about!

Matthew 28:18

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[b] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”