Early Christians were accused of incest and gross immorality. They accused Christians of being cannibals. This is a Catholic doctrine which says that the bread and the wine miraculously changed into Christ's real flesh and blood in the communion service. But it was not helped at all because there were some Christians at this time (because you remember, in the second century things were beginning to loosen up a bit in the early church), were beginning to teach what has become known as transubstantiation. Now, the average Roman did not realize that this was symbolic, that Christians actually ate a piece of bread and they drank a little bit of wine to represent Christ's flesh and blood. Now they believed this because Christians very openly preached that in their meetings, which were private, nobody else in the public would be able to come into it without passing the bar as it were, that they ate the flesh and drank the blood of their God, Jesus Christ. It makes no sense to us that they would say such a thing but that is what many non-Christians believed about Christians living among them across the Roman Empire.
If we cannot eat or drink human blood, or any kind of blood at all because life is in the blood (it talks about that in Genesis 9 and Leviticus 17), God is certainly opposed to us eating people. And of course one of the Ten Commandments is about not taking life-you shall not murder. God created life He does not want us to take life. You may not be aware, but did you know that the early Christians, those in the second century and maybe even a little bit earlier, were thought by many across the Roman Empire to be cannibals? Now we find this practice abhorrent and the accusation shocking since we know that Christianity, you could say, is the most life-affirming institution on the planet. If we have been guilty of talebearing and gossip-as all have been, we must: 1) ask for God to forgive us, and 2) ask Him to help us present our tongues as instruments of righteousness to God, for healing and edifying, rather than destroying, people. The prohibition against talebearing occupies a prominent location in the Holiness Code. When we slander another human being in a whisper campaign, we are diligently performing Satan's work. Shockingly, we have a big chunk of the hostile world in our mouth, a potentially deadly three-inch appendage capable of slaying a six-foot human being. Listening to gossip is just as serious an offense as being an accessory to murder. James warns everyone that gossip, tale-bearing and being a busy-body is just as damnable in God's eyes as first-degree murder. The apostle James recognizes how the tongue, driven by carnal nature, can metaphorically start a dangerous fire. Every culture is prone to interpret facts erroneously-indeed, illogically-and to pass those misshapen interpretations along through various sorts of "whisper campaigns." Today, social media provide a technically advanced conduit for character-assassination. The Romans had their own version of a media which twists facts through rumor and innuendo. This view was fact-based, but the facts were contextually contorted by detractors. There are things we can do to address what’s already in there - like admit I shouldn’t have listened, consciously address my faulty thinking and communicate about it with anyone appropriate.The "fake news" of the first century was that Christians were cannibals, atheists and unpatriotic.
It’s affected us and colored how we think about others. We’ve all listened to things we really shouldn’t have and what we heard stayed with us, even went down deep in our feelings and thoughts. The second line says “they go down to the inmost parts.” This suggests that once we get the message of these words in us…and they go deep.and they stay there - it can really affect us. The fact is, this gossip-stuff is pretty interesting…and we generally want more! I’d say it this way, “they taste as good as a large piece of a three-layer chocolate cake with lots of chocolate icing…along with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.” Who wouldn’t want some of that! Our wise saying offers two insights about these “words of a gossip.” First, “they’re like choice morsels.” “Gossip” here is also translated as whispering murmuring secretly criticizing, slandering, complaining or grumbling! Ouch! But these are particular words, “the words of a gossip.” The focus here is on “words” - a favorite topic in Proverbs. When I think about what it says…I know I need to hear it again! Whatever the reasons for that are, I always assume God decided we needed to hear this again. The words of a gossip are like choice morsels they go down to the inmost parts.
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