The Psychology Of Rumours

This is about the psychology of rumours. (During the past week, I heard rumours that two Churches may be closing down). While people don't completely agree about the dynamics of rumours, three things seem to drive them above all:  1. Tell a rumour, and you get attention -- so they represent attention-seeking.  2. Where people feel insecure about a situation, rumours fly.  And 3. Rumours serve as a tool to undermine people who are in some way perceived as a threat. Therefore where there are rumours, one can generally know that the cause is 1, 2, or 3. I think that, in the Church, 1 and 3 are accentuated beyond the normal, due to the greater shock value of rumours, and due to the greater potential to undermine people's reputation. But, to steady ourselves, the Bible teaches us that rumours don't succeed. For example, Proverbs 26:26. In fact, Jesus said there is reason to rejoice over them. Matthew 5:11-12. OBSERVATION: The Church in China recently identified its biggest problem as gossip, which is related to rumours.