Did you know....?

Whenever someone comes up to me with, "Did you know...?"  I want to say yes and walk away!   It only happens in church for some reason.    For me the "Did you know...?" is a signal for "I have some juicy gossip to share!" 

Gossip is going to kill the church.   Why is it we love Gossip?    Why is it important for me to know that so and so is getting a divorce or can't pay their rent or their children are out of control?   For some reason it seems that as pastor I should know about everyone's life!

Wrong!! I want to know about people's lives from the people themselves.   Okay, if I hear that someone died, I will act on that.  That kind of information is public and there is a need for pastoral care.    But if someone is getting a divorce, and the parties involved have not contacted me, then I have to just pray about the information I received.   If people in my faith community are hurting they do call me directly.  I don't wait for the "Did you know...?"

A church community sometimes feel that it is okay to share everyone's life with everybody else without regard to the person they are talking about.    So when I get information from a "Did you know....?"  I ask, "Did you speak to....?"  Usually, its a "no" and they got the information second hand.   When that happens, I respond, "I'll pray for them!'

It's too bad folks don't feel compelled to share the Good New of Jesus Christ with as much enthusiasm, energy and effort as they do about gossip!!!  If they did, church would be vibrant and with folks coming to faith communities wanting to know the answer to the question,  "Did you know...?"