Doodlebugs and Gossips

‘The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles.’ Proverbs 18:8 NKJV

The doodlebug lives at the bottom of a little cone-shaped hole that he burrows in the sand. He gets down as low as possible so he’s always looking up at everything else. When the ant comes around and gets on the side of this carefully prepared cone, the doodlebug feels a few grains of sand slide down, which signals to him that ‘food’ is up there. At that point he begins to throw dirt on his victim. What he’s trying to do is drag the ant down to his level. And that’s what we do when we gossip. We throw dirt on others, hoping to bring them down to our level. It’s why Solomon warned: ‘The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body.’

The ear craves gossip like a hungry stomach craves food. Solomon goes on to give this warning: ‘He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.’ (Proverbs 20:19 NKJV) So, if you have gossipy lips or greedy ears, God says, ‘Don’t do it!’ Here’s something you may not have considered: while you can never be known and judged by what others say about you, you can be known and judged by what you say about them. In most cases it’s illegal to steal or receive stolen goods. That’s why the apostle Paul admonished, ‘Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.’ (1 Timothy 5:19 NKJV) And one more thought: a gossip must always have an accomplice to commit the crime. So, the word for you today is: don’t receive or repeat gossip.

蚁狮和闲话

闲言碎语如同美食，深入人的五脏六腑。箴言18:8

蚁狮通常生活在一个由自己挖掘的漏斗状陷阱的底部，它自己则躲在漏斗最低端的沙子里面。它会尽可能待在下面，这样就可以看见上面的东西。当蚂蚁来到这个精心准备的陷阱附近时，蚁狮就能够感受一些沿着漏斗状的陷阱壁滑落的小沙粒，这就向它发出了“食物”在上面的信号。也就是在这个时候，它开始往“受害者”身上扔沙子。接下来它要做的就是把蚂蚁拖到它的水平（down to his level）——漏斗的最低端。当我们说闲话的时候，我们也是这样做的。我们向别人仍沙子，希望将他们降至我们的水平（down to our level）。这就是为什么所罗门警告说：“闲言碎语如同美食，深入人的五脏六腑。”

耳朵通常回渴望流言蜚语，就像饥饿的胃渴望食物。所罗门继续警告说：“嚼舌的人泄露秘密，不可结交多嘴的人。”（箴言20:19）所以，如果你有喜欢传话的舌头或贪婪的耳朵，神会说：“不要那么做！” 当你这样做的时候，你可能没有考虑过这些事情：别人如何评价你不会让人了解和论断你，却可以因着你对别人的评价而了解和论断你。在大多数情况下，偷东西和接受偷窃之物都是违法的。这就是为什么使徒保罗告诫说：“若有人向你控告长老，必须有两三个证人，否则不要受理。”（提摩太前书5:19）还有一点：流言蜚语总是有同谋一起来犯。所以，今天我们要告诉大家的是：不要接受或重复闲话。

（翻译：段麦克@2018-03-07）