First John opens much like the Gospel of John. Talk of Jesus coming into the world and all that. But First John camps out more in the eternal realm, inviting us to witness the broad sweep of eternity in a very simple way: By fellowshipping with one another around a table of God's enduring faithfulness.
Tables. Two tables were on my mind yesterday.
One was the table we Christians gather around to participate in the eternal covenant; one was the table where my daughter eats lunch with her friends at school. It occurred to me last night that both tables have the potential for kindness, and unfortunately, both tables sometimes devolve into gossip.
The fourth grade table where my daughter eats a turkey sandwich every day is the same table where a couple of deep friendships have flourished over the past year. This is also the year they discovered boys. And when little girls talk to little boys, the gossip begins. So be it. My girl experienced it first hand. It's tough. But the true friends have stuck together. And when true friends stick together in the face of gossip, the food at the table tastes that much better. The same is true for Christians around the Lord's Table. Every time Christians refuse to gossip it's like eating the Lord's Supper as a good meal with dearly loved friends; but every time Christians slander one another it's like eating stale bread off a dirty plate.
For those of us who follow Christ, we need to take seriously the warnings against gossip. It is chilling to read Romans 1 and hear "gossips" listed among murderers and haters of God.
I wonder whether the precision we have cultivated in Churches of Christ through the years has actually produced a byproduct of gossip? What if the experience of vicarious shame directed toward others has something to do with our implicit realizations that while we may speak the language of grace, we do so while trying to live according to our works? I heard someone a few days ago say that slandering other people is a way of avoiding our own insecurities. Speaking of vicarious shame. Seems to me that gossip is the primary sign of theopathology.
But if little girls at the cafeteria table can figure out how to get along, maybe grownups around the Lord's Table can commit to an absolute refusal to participate in any form of gossip. When we talk about each other, we give the benefit of the doubt that every one of us who confesses Christ is equally redeemed by the Lord as we eat of the bread and drink from the cup.
