Today, we’re going to go over the second part of the Galloping Gossips and the Headless Horseman Bible activity. If you missed part 1, you can find it here.
Group Discussion Materials
- Cork board
- 4 sheets of printer paper
- Markers
- Thumb tacks or tape
Group Discussion Preparation
- Write the heading & Rules of Thumb on the sheets of paper:
- RULES OF THUMB FOR GOSSIP:
- IF IT’S GOING TO HURT THE PERSON, DON’T TELL THE PERSON.
- IF YOU HEAR IT FROM A THIRD PARTY, START WITH THE ASSUMPTION THAT IT IS NOT TRUE.
- YOU DON’T HAVE TO RESPOND TO GOSSIP. SAY. NOTHING.
Galloping Gossips & the Headless Horseman (Who Gossips Out His Neck Because He Just Can’t Help It)
**Bold sections are what you, the minister, say aloud during this Bible activity**
Scenario: You’re in the locker room at school. You hear someone planning a party, and they distinctly say, “I’m not inviting Sarah,” who is a good friend of yours. Girls, you especially: How many would tell Sarah? Probably most (though they will struggle answering this).
Let’s say you end up telling her. How will Sarah feel? Bad.
Sarah really wants to go to this party, and she’s the outgoing, upfront sort. What are some of the things she might do? The one you’re looking for: Go up to the party thrower and say, ”Somebody told me you’re mad at me.”
“Somebody told me you’re mad at me.” Uh-oh. What’s the first question the party thrower is likely to ask? Who told you that?
This is already a stressful situation. Sarah has risked putting herself out there. She is stressing. The party thrower is totally embarrassed and feels vulnerable. We tell secrets all the time. Yet we always think our secrets are safe with the next person.
What is Sarah going to say in response to ”who told you that?” We’ve already said she’s the upfront sort. If they believe Sarah will say something other than their name, tell them to DREAM ON.
So Sarah says your name–that you told her. Then what is the party thrower going to do? Come find you and ask what the heck.
Who is most likely to be left out of the party NOW?
Here’s one rule of thumb: IF IT’S GOING TO HURT THE PERSON, DON’T TELL THE PERSON.
Put your sign saying this up on the cork board.
Consequence if you break the rule: 99% chance is that you’ll get hurt the worst.
LOOKUP: Proverbs 17:9
LOOKUP: Proverbs 21:23
Scenario: You’re at the mall with a friend. You see a new girl from your eighth grade class and point her out. Your friend says, ”Donft go up to her. I hear she’s a total klepto. She’s been arrested, like, three times already for stealing. That’s why her family moved here.” She shudders and looks totally disturbed and sincere.
What is your first response to this?
Do you automatically believe your friend? What is it about the words your friend just used that ought to make you doubt the truth in this? ”Arrested three times. Family up and moves.” That’s pretty incredible.
You’ve never caught this friend in a lie. How might she be so sincere and yet be saying something that probably is exaggerated or not true at all? She heard it from somebody else and totally believes it.
You love this friend. You really don’t want to argue with her. What do you do? What’s the right thing to do? Tell her you don’t believe it. Start asking questions until your friend sees for herself how ridiculous it sounds.
What might the initial truth have been? Maybe she was with some friends before she moved who all got taken to the back of the store for suspicion of shoplifting. Maybe she did or maybe she didn’t.
Here’s another Rule of Thumb: IF YOU HEAR IT FROM A THIRD PARTY, START WITH THE ASSUMPTION THAT IT IS NOT TRUE.
Put your sign saying this up on the cork board.
Reward for keeping this Rule: You won’t be gullible.
Even if a friend SWEARS it’s true. Why do kids your age generally believe what people say? Because they’re your friends, or you want them to be. Because it’s hard to tell the truth from a lie.
Consider this: New people in school can be a little scary. If you saw your best friend buddying up to the new girl, how would that make you feel? How might your friend in the mall have felt, seeing that you wanted to go up to the new girl? Maybe she was jealous or felt threatened.
How might this have affected the story she told? It could have made her exaggerate.
RULE OF THUMB: YOU DON’T HAVE TO RESPOND TO GOSSIP. SAY. NOTHING.
Put your sign saying this up on the cork board.
Reward for keeping this Rule: You will cut out 90% of what people would have said about YOU.
LOOKUP Proverbs 26:20
What does the expression mean, ”What goes around comes around?”
LOOKUP Matthew 15:19
Look on the cork board. There are some great lessons up there, all leading to an important point: You DON’T HAVE to gossip. Even if somebody gossips about you first. Get free of it as much as you possibly can, and you will be a lot happier! And more Christian too!
Do you think your tween students will get something out of this Bible activity? If so, be sure to come back next week for the final part of this lesson!