If you spend any time on social media or any time socializing at a Christian conference, if you refresh your feed on YouTube or listen while people chat after church on a Sunday morning, you may soon learn what makes people happy. People love to talk about other people! And more often than not, they love to talk negatively about other people—discussing their foibles and failures, their quirks and shortcomings.
It is for this reason that the Bible so often warns us against idleness, gossip, being busybodies, getting involved in affairs that are not our own, and so on. It is curses that more naturally spill from our lips than blessings and tittle-tattle that more naturally comes out of our mouths than encouragement. So often, a bad report of another person delights our ears more than a good report and a tale of failure than a tale of success. Many of us, most of us, or perhaps all of us need to wage a lifelong battle to simply display even moderately good character in this area, to have the inner strength to resist gossiping and the outer conviction to stop others when they begin to gossip to us.
What makes Christians happy? Sadly, it’s often gossip, uninformed opinions, unfounded rumors, and bad reports.
But what makes heaven happy? We can be certain that there are no gossips in heaven, no people who dash around the city to share news of another man’s downfall or another woman’s demise. We can be certain there is no one there who would feel joy if they received reports of another person’s sin or satisfaction if they heard of another person’s fall.
We can be certain that there are no gossips in heaven, no people who dash around the city to share news of another man’s downfall or another woman’s demise.
Yet heaven is abuzz with news of other people! What makes heaven happy and happiest of all is the news of another soul saved. As Jesus said, “There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). In the day you put your faith in Christ, the angels broke out in song! When you shared the gospel with a friend and she believed, heaven rejoiced! Any time a sinner looks away from himself and looks instead to Jesus, heaven celebrates.
Shouldn’t we imitate heaven? Shouldn’t we behave now like we will behave then, to refuse to find the least satisfaction in sin and instead rejoice in God’s great work of salvation (and, of course, its sibling, sanctification)? Surely the church would be purified and our faith would be strengthened if only we would determine to find joy in what makes heaven joyful.
So if we talk about other people, let’s talk about their virtues. If we discuss the accomplishments of other people, let’s discuss what they’ve done for Christ. If we gossip about other people, let’s “gossip grace.” Let’s be as happy as heaven.
