Gossip Quiz

By Pastor Stephen Piersall
God's Preservation Ministry, sfprs.org/
https://www.facebook.com/GodsPreservationMinistry

See original quiz here: http://sfprs.org/gossiping-quiz/


Think you don’t gossip? Take this quiz to find out…

1)     You and your friends are at a social event, and you see one of your friend’s smoking marijuana. You:

a)     Pray for them.

b)     Add them to your prayer list.

c)     Tell everyone on social media.

d)     Tell their spouse and pray for your friend.

2)     You walk by the magazine counter and see a headline about your favorite movie star cheating on their spouse. You:

a)     Pull out your wallet and buy it because you just have to know the details.

b)     You’re tempted, but walk away.

c)     Leave the magazine, but check out the story online. You won’t financially support those types of magazines.

d)     You walk away; those magazines are junk.

3)     You overhear your friend’s spouse telling everyone lies about their relationship. You:

a)     Confront them right there and tell them to take back the lies.

b)     Run and tell your friend.

c)     Post the story on social media.

d)     Spread lies about them and see how they feel when it is done to them.

4)     Your friends are sitting around when one starts telling you what they heard one’s teenager got in trouble at a party last weekend. You:

a)     Listen intently, then call everyone you know. You can’t keep a story that good quiet.

b)     Listen and analyze their actions with your friends.

c)     Go get another drink while they finish talking about it.

d)     Tell them you don’t feel comfortable talking about it and change the subject.

5)     You and your friends usually talk about:

a)     Dating, friends, people at work.

b)     What’s going on in your lives.

c)     Sports, movies, music.

d)     Celebrities.

6)     Your friend’s daughter confides in you that she got pregnant. You:

a)     Tell Everyone.

b)     Ask your teens for advice because you need to know how to deal with it, without saying whom it is.

c)     Write about it on your social media.

d)     Tell no one. Just pray to God for what you should do.

7)     How many times a week do you hear yourself saying, “Did you hear about…?

a)     At least once a day.

b)     2 to 5.

c)     1 to 2.

d)     Never.



ANSWERS are at the bottom of this page.


“Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.” Proverbs 26:20


Gossip is defined as a rumor or talk of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature. As a noun (a person) and a verb (an action), gossip is often very busy. Which is why people who gossip is referred to as busybodies.

No one likes to be called a busybody. The busybodies are those people who spend all day and night probing the lives of other people, so they can share it with all their friends, family, and every stranger who will listen. To ally yourself with such a term is to admit you have no life! Yet, can anyone honestly say they’ve never gossiped?

Honestly, Christians gossip. In many cases, the spicy details that come out of a Christian’s mouth are more damaging than a worldly one:

1)     Christians are not supposed to gossip. The Bible clearly states that gossip and backbiting are on God’s no-no list.

a)     Leviticus 19:16 – “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.”

b)     Ephesians 4:29 – “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

c)     Psalms 34:13 – “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.”

d)     Ephesians 4:31 – “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.”

e)     James 4:11 – “Speak not evil one of another.”

2)     Whenever Christians do things they are not “supposed” to, two things can happen:

a)     Unbelievers receive more negative evidence against Christians. (How can Christians claim the Bible is the truth and way of life to live).

b)      Other Christians watching are affected in a negative way by discouragement and prideful thinking.


Christians spiritualize excuses to make them less sinful. This can be seen in the way the Bible is interpreted, for the most part, as it relates to; sexual sins, how and what to speak, eating habits, how and when to sleep, work, exercise, etc.

Christians like to overlook their favored habits of sin. They rationalize these habits no matter how bad, or harmful, or negative. They will make these habits more presentable, by dressing them up to look like something good or beneficial, or even calling it spiritual.

I can honestly say, I have been, am currently involved in, and probably will in my future be gossiped about. It is always tempting to correct the gossip, to identify the offender and to put them in their place. Trust me when I say, to take the correct Godly way is NOT at all easy. Experience has taught me that the best course of action is to forgive them (You do not have to confront them to do this) ignore the gossip and pray for these people. Being an Ordained Pastor and licensed by the State, I have a higher calling to be more respectable and exist above reproach as good as I can. Do I fail? Yes, every day. That is why it is important when you recognize yourself sinning to pray for forgiveness immediately, or if the day goes by, and I may not be aware of doing anything wrong, I pray before bedtime asking God’s forgiveness for those known and unknown to me.

I am not saying that we should live irresponsibly and disregard correction. We should simply live our lives the best the Bible tells us how to. To love God, love people, submit appropriately and try not to cause others to stumble through our behavior. If we work out our own walks with God, we can rest assured that what people say won’t matter. We should just accept that people gossip and leave it to God justify us.

So if we are going to say anything about others, let it be a testimony, let it be something good, which edifies the hearer. Perhaps the old adage puts it most aptly; “If you have nothing good to say about someone, say nothing at all.”

Let us look at the answers to the quiz you took, and no matter of the results good or bad say a prayer right now to God and Thank Him for revealing some truths about you in how you conduct your life.

Scoring Key

1)     A = 4,  B = 2,  C = 1,  D = 3

2)     A = 1,  B = 3,  C = 2,  D = 4

3)     A = 4,  B = 3,  C = 2,  D = 1

4)     A = 1,  B = 2,  C = 3,  D = 4

5)     A = 1,  B = 3,  C = 4,  D = 2

6)     A = 1,  B = 3,  C = 2,  D = 4

7)     A = 1,  B = 2,  C = 3,  D = 4