Good Deed Gossip

"But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharoah and get me out of this prison." Genesis 40:14


Good Deed Gossip!
By Rev. William Dohle

"Did you hear?"
"Really?"
"Yes!  And that's not all.  There's more!"
"Oh do tell!"

Most of us will recognize these words as gossip.  The incepit snake that haunts the halls of school hallways, courthouses, work places, homes, and even churches!  The whisper of rumor, of hearsay, and sometimes of exaggerated facts, gossip has a way of breaking apart even the tightest of circles with its lies.

Gossip has always been cast in a negative light.  Even in the Bible.  Proverbs speaks of gossip in this way.  "A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends." (Proverbs 16:28).  We TRY not to gossip.  We try NOT to talk about people behind their back.  But inevitably, it happens.

But still, with that say, some gossip is actually good.  Necessary even.  Some gossip is the kind of gossip even God would want from his people!

We might call that gossip: Good Deed Gossip!

It happens like this... Someone does something GOOD to you, or to someone else.  Instead of forgetting about it, thanking them and moving on with your life, you tell others about the good deed they did.  You exaggerate the good deed, making it even better than it was to begin with.  You do what Martin Luther suggests and "put the best construction on everything", casting their motives as godly, the deed profoundly helpful, and yourself as grateful and humble as you could be.

That is the gossip God desires his people to have.  That is Good Deed Gossip!

Joseph in Genesis asks for this kind of gossip.  Begs for it even.  After interpreting the chief cupbearer's dream, Joseph tells him: "But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharoah and get me out of this prison.  For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon."

Joseph pleads that the chief cupbearer TALK ABOUT HIM BEHIND HIS BACK!  He's asking him to gossip!  But more than that.  He's asking him to brag and gossip and boast about the good deed Joseph did to Pharaoh.  Then, Joseph says, Pharaoh might have pity and release him out of prison where he doesn't belong.

Joseph is asking for Good Deed Gossip!

Of course, in the cupbearer's humanity, that doesn't happen.  The saddest verse of this chapter comes at the end: "The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him."(Gen. 40:23)

We too fall short when we try to Good Deed Gossip.  We forget those who do good to us, never mentioning what they do for our benefit, while we exaggerate the wrongs that others inflict on us.  We forget about the time they spent with us when we were sick in the hospital, or the kind words they said to us as we were in distress.  We forget about the prayers that were offered on our behalf or the kindness they showed to us.

And why is that the case?  Why are we so prone to forget the right and exaggerate the wrong?  Because, in our sinfulness, Good Deed Gossip is just not that interesting!  It might be cool at first to remember the good that other's have done...but there's no "developing story."  Nothing changes in the good.   Whereas the bad gossip, there's always room for worse!

Take, for example, George Clooney's work as a United Nations' Ambassador of Peace...and the recent divorce of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.  Which of the two are getting the most press?  Which of them inspire conversation in the gossip circles?  The second of course!  Because it's interesting.  Because it's changing.  And because we feel better about ourselves when we can compare ourselves with others who are failing, not when they are succeeding.

Perhaps that was why the chief cupbearer forgot about Joseph.  Maybe he wished to think he had done it himself.  Or maybe he didn't think it was all that interesting.

In any case, the cupbearer forgot to pass on Joseph's Good Deed Gossip.  He forgot the good he did.

Will you?  Will you gossip about the good others do for you?  Or will you continue to forget the good and exaggerate the bad?  What kind of gossip will you be?  One that revels in the good deeds of others or one that takes delight in their downfall?  It's your choice.


God of Joseph, as you forgive and forget our wrong we do while remembering the good we do in you, help us to do the same.  Give us tongues that spread the good, the joyful, the laughter, and the grace that you have shown us, through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.