A Day at a Time · Chapter
XV: Gashmu the Gossip explained
This chapter examines the biblical figure Gashmu, who is remembered only as a talebearer and slanderer.
What happens
This chapter examines the biblical figure Gashmu, who is remembered only as a talebearer and slanderer. It contrasts harmless gossip with the deadly sin of spreading false reports, which can irreparably damage a person's reputation. The author urges readers to emulate the knightly chivalry of King Arthur's knights by speaking no slander and not listening to it, and to be like a rock that stops the drift of gossip. The chapter concludes with a prayer for guarding one's speech and protecting others' good names.
Themes in this chapter
The Power of Speech and Gossip
The chapter focuses entirely on the destructive power of gossip and slander, contrasting harmless talk with malicious false reports that ruin reputations.
Love and Generosity
The author urges readers to blazon abroad good reports about others and to guard a neighbor's name as carefully as one's own, as an act of Christian love.
Faith and Trust in God
The chapter calls on Christians to invoke the Spirit of Christ before speaking, trusting in God's forgiveness for sins of speech, and relying on divine help to keep the door of the lips.
Characters to notice
- Gashmu
Mentioned as a mere name in Scripture, a talebearer and slanderer who is the authority for a false piece of news against Nehemiah.
- Nehemiah
The target of Sanballat's cruel letter, which cites Gashmu as the source of a false report that Nehemiah was plotting against the king.
- Jesus Christ
Referenced as the one to whom Christians have promised fealty, demanding love of neighbor and guarding against false witness.
- King Arthur
Cited for requiring his Knights of the Round Table to swear to 'speak no slander' and 'no, nor listen to it.'
- Isaiah
Quoted for the image of God's Servant as 'the shadow of a great Rock in a weary land,' used as a metaphor for stopping the drift of gossip.
- Sir Walter Scott
Mentioned for his habit of embellishing anecdotes, illustrating how stories are often exaggerated in retelling.
Key passages
“Gashmu is a mere name in Scripture. He is mentioned only three times—twice as acting with Sanballat against Nehemiah, and once as the authority for a false piece of news.”
Gashmu appears only three times in the Bible, always in connection with Sanballat's opposition to Nehemiah, and once as the source of a lie.
Establishes Gashmu as a symbol of gossip and slander.
“If my house is burned or I lose my money, I can still get along by the kindness of my friends for a little, till I find my feet again. But whoever by some lying story takes away my character, deals me a blow from which there is no recovering.”
Losing property or wealth can be overcome with friends' help, but a false story that destroys a reputation causes irreparable harm.
Highlights the unique and lasting damage of slander compared to material loss.
“When King Arthur enrolled his Knights of the Round Table, he made them take the oath to 'speak no slander.' And there is a knightly chivalry of speech which ought to be the mark of all those who have promised fealty to Jesus Christ.”
Just as Arthur's knights vowed not to slander, Christians should adopt a chivalrous code of speech out of loyalty to Christ.
Connects Christian discipleship to the ideal of knightly honor in speech.
“We can be for our friends in some measure what Isaiah said that God's Servant, when He came, should be, the shadow of a great Rock in a weary land, stopping the drift of the sand, and sheltering our friends by our loyalty and our silence.”
By refusing to repeat gossip, we can protect our friends like a rock sheltering them from the drifting sand of rumor.
Uses Isaiah's imagery to illustrate the protective power of silence.
“Let us, when we are tempted to retail the vivid, poisonous piece of scandal, stop and invoke the Spirit of Christ. Is this that I am going to say about my brother the kind of thing I should say if Christ were standing by?”
Before repeating scandal, pause and ask whether you would say it in Christ's presence.
Offers a practical test for speech based on the presence of Christ.
