steve-in-kville wrote:It says a lot about our hearts! Among the plain people, I have noticed:
1) People who have nothing good to say about others. Always see the negative, rarely the positive. If you want the dirt on someone, go to these folks!
I can guarantee you many of those people are not plain, and I know some of them. This is clearly a very serious sin in the Bible, and one that we often don't take seriously enough. Often, the gossip is a much more serious sin than whatever people are gossiping about.
Proverbs 16:28
A contrary person spreads conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.
Proverbs 17:9
Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but whoever gossips about it separates friends.
Proverbs 26:20
Without wood, fire goes out; without a gossip, conflict dies down.
Romans 1:29
They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips ...
2 Corinthians 12:20
For I fear that perhaps when I come I will not find you to be what I want, and you may not find me to be what you want. Perhaps there will be quarreling, jealousy, angry outbursts, selfish ambitions, slander, gossip ...
1 Timothy 5:13
At the same time, they also learn to be idle, going from house to house; they are not only idle, but are also gossips and busybodies, saying things they shouldn’t say.
steve-in-kville wrote:2) People who refuse to see the negative in others. Trying to get them to see gross negatives in someone else is met with opposition.
3) The rarest of the rare. People who can weigh both sides objectively.
Maybe this answers your question, maybe it doesn't.
I suspect you are thinking of a specific kind of situation that is different than I was. When are you imagining the need to make sure that people see gross negatives in other people? When that is necessary, who do you think should share, and how?
I do think there are times this is important - if someone is dishonest in business dealings, or creepy around pretty women, or whatever. But in general, if someone fails to notice someone else's shortcomings, I don't feel the need to correct that.
In general, I would correct someone face to face before I would ever say something to someone else. And if that didn't work, I would approach that person with a few other people to see if that helps. Matthew 18.
Is it biblical? Is it Christlike? Is it loving? Is it true? How can I find out?