The Anatomy of a Busybody

I have spoken with many individuals over the past years that have been devastated by the attacks of the busybody. Some of these attacks have contributed to great hurt and discouragements, leaving or becoming inactive in the ministry, backsliding and on some occasions, thoughts of suicide. Some of these attacks have been against individual Christians, some against church leaders and in some cases, a direct attack against a church itself.

To better clarify the title I have chosen, one of the meanings of the term anatomy is “a separating or dividing into parts for detailed examination”. The purpose of this essay is to take a very thorough look at what a “busybody” is; some of their methods and the potential harm they can cause.

The term “busybody” is only found once in the KJV of the Scriptures and “busybodies”
is found twice. This limited mention should not be construed as making it less than important because a closer look will declare otherwise. The Apostles Paul and Peter both dealt with this threat in Scripture.

1 Peter 4:15 says “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters”.

2 Thessalonians 3:11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.

1 Timothy 5:13 And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

Each of these uses is a translation of a different Greek word. “Allotrioepiskopos” is a noun and is the word being translated in 1 Peter. It is a combination of two words allotrios meaning "belonging to another person," and episkopos which means "an overseer,” Peter is talking about one who attempts to oversee that which belongs of another. “Periergazomai” is the verb translated in 2 Thessalonians 3:11 and means “to be working round about instead of at one’s own business.” Finally, “Periegos” is an adjective translated in 1 Timothy 5:13 and means “taken up with trifles”.

A lot of attention is merited to this subject because of the potential harm that is caused by the busybody to both themselves as well as their victim. Out of curiosity, I looked on sermoncentral.com to see how many sermons I could find on the subject. SermonCentral.com is reputed to be “the largest, best, and most popular preaching research and resource site in the world, with over 100,000 totally free sermons, illustrations, and dramas…” (their assertion). In spite of their vast volumes of information, there was only one sermon and only a small portion of that message was related. In spite of the great threat there seems to be very little being said about it.

Peter, in the referenced chapter of his epistle, spoke of our potential sufferings as a Christian. Too often Christians get upset because we are misunderstood and consequently criticized, but this is comparatively nothing to the sufferings of some. It has been said that more than forty-three million Christians have been killed for their faith since the crucifixion of Jesus. It is estimated that more Christians were martyred in the twentieth century than in all of the prior 1,900 years combined. It is estimated that more than 200 million Christians in over 60 nations face persecution each day, 60% of which are children.

Regardless of the true sufferings that can be possible as a Christian, Peter admonished them to make sure that if they did suffer, it would not be because of doing wrong. It is not a coincidence that a busybody is named with characters such as a murder, thief and evildoer. Busybody, according to the Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words was a legal term for a charge that could be brought against Christians in Peter’s day. For the sake of this essay, I will not deal with the civil charge but rather the general character of a busybody.

Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary defines a busybody as “an officious or inquisitive person”. For clarification, the same source defines officious as “volunteering one’s services where they are neither asked nor needed”. “Meddler” is a common word that is used in the place of “busybody” in several other translations of the Bible. Although the terms busybody and busybodies together are only found three times in the KJV, the warnings regarding the character of the busybody are found repeatedly.

A sad thing is that when a lot of people read this, a certain individual will come to their mind. In many cases, this individual is one they are familiar with from church; one they consider to be a Christian.

There are sincere and professing Christians who seem to feel they have a special calling, a special obligation to perform the “ministry” of a busybody. Obviously, they do not render this “ministry” under the title of a busybody, but rather someone who is concerned about the welfare of others. Sometimes their concern is beyond a specific individual; it is a concern for either a local church body or even the Church in general.

These individuals seem to feel that through their “investigation”, i.e. meddling, into the life of another, they may find something that can be used to make the individual a better Christian or that will somehow benefit the body of Christ. Jesus issued a warning to His disciples in John 16:1-2 “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. (2) They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service”.

The Greek word translated “offended” means to “slip up, stumble, or enticed to sin”. Jesus’ warning was to prevent the disciples from being surprised and subsequently swayed from their faith when people did things against them under the pretense of doing a religious service. I believe that there are many busybodies today that function under the assumption that they are doing God a service.

Because of this, there is a certain mercy that needs to be extended to the busybodies. Jesus, while being crucified, prayed “…Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…” (Luke 23:34). On the other hand, there are probably busybodies among the church who realize they are doing wrong and yet continue their deceitful and malicious tactics with a desire to harm or destroy someone. Since the approach of both the well and ill intending busybody can be the same, we must use caution in our response to them.

Regardless of some of them being convinced their intentions and efforts are proper, being a busybody is still wrong and will cause them to suffer as Peter stated. Unfortunately, they often cause great suffering to others in the process. The Lord takes the attacks against His children very seriously therefore we need to help the busybody. We need to somehow help them to recognize their wrong, encourage them to repent and to convert their efforts to that which is profitable for the kingdom of God.

Among the characteristics of a busybody is the fact that they can seldom work alone; they need the input of others. They are often not in a close relationship with the one with whom they are “meddling” and therefore not privy to the information they want. To compensate for this lack of closeness, they try to enlist the help of those that are close to their “subject”. Consequently, we have a busybody not only doing an evil work; now they may be involving others in their evil efforts as well.

The busybody is often viewed as a dedicated Christian with the good of others at heart. Because of this we must be use great caution in ensuring we are not pulled into their scheme. Since we do not want to always scrutinize the effort or intentions of another, we need a “rule of thumb” to make sure our conversations do not become a weapon in their arsenal. This rule could be Philippians 4:8; “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” If this is the level we think on, it should also be the level we communicate on. If we are only thinking that which is pure, lovely and a good report, it will be difficult to talk about that which isn’t.

Being an effective busybody isn’t as easy as it may sound. It may not only demand the help of others, it often requires much time and effort. Actually it demands so much effort; the busybody will probably not have time to consider their own life and ways. Jesus expressed it this way in Matthew 7:3-4; “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? (4) Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye”?

Most conscientious Christians realize that working out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) demands a heart toward God, His Word and much prayer. If we are devoting our efforts to that which is wrong, we will not have sufficient time to do that which is right toward God, His children or ourselves. We realize that the devil’s success in our lives will require us to surrender our thoughts and actions unto him. This enemy of our soul can be very subtle in his attempts for our surrender therefore we cannot afford to waste any of our time on that which is wrong. Every moment or effort we give to things such as being a busybody or participating in the scheme of the busybody, takes away from us doing as we should.

One of the subtle tactics that the devil uses to try to get us involved in the busybody’s effort is our desire to be heard. It is common for most of us to like for people to listen to us and value our opinion. This desire may even be so strong that we will allow our conversation and opinion to be swayed to get others to listen to us. We can probably all recall times when we have at least withheld our full opinion on a subject because we didn’t want to take a chance on people no longer listening. The busybody will often patronize our desire to be heard in order to get us to eventually say what they want us to say.

The busybody, after making their personal observations and enlisting the observations and opinions of others, form their conclusion. Their conclusion may have even been formed before their “busybody ministry” and all efforts were only intended to support their conclusion. Their conclusion is in many, if not all, cases nothing less than a judgment against a person or persons. This judgment normally consists of their opinion, an opinion formed while doing contrary to the Scripture. It is a judgment that is normally made without any direct input from the one being judged. It doesn’t require a spiritual-minded person to see all of the dangers in such a conclusion.

One of the great dangers to the busybody is found in Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven”. Such judgment is something that is prohibited by God Himself! When a person gathers information in a manner contrary to Scripture and then uses that information, regardless of whether it is right or wrong, to form a judgment against another, it is a sin!

There is an expression that says “the end justifies the means”. There may be some instances in which such an expression can be applied but this is certainly not one of them. Sin is sin regardless if it is used to reveal other sin. The result of this sin, if it is not repented of, is death (Romans 6:23). We will never be justified in using a means contrary to God to do something for God.

The busybody generally uses ungodly tactics to form an ungodly judgment. Someone might ask, “but what if they are right in their judgment; what if they do, by some far-fetched chance, come to the right conclusion”? It is still wrong because God has not given us the responsibility or right to judge. Romans 2:1 says “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things”.

The character of the busybody is revealed through the fact that their meddling is contrary to Scripture but also through what they use the results of the meddling for. As stated before, they will normally form their judgment. By this time, they have transgressed so many Scriptures and Godly principals in their actions, they will show little or no concern for whether or not their judgment is right. We should not think they are going to “set on this information” after they have went to all of the time and effort to gather it? They will normally always have to find someone to share it with! They may share it in the form of a “prayer request” or under the pretense of protecting someone from being hurt, but regardless, it will be shared.

Leviticus 18:6 says “None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD”. The Hebrew word translated “nakedness” means nudity, disgrace, blemish or shame. I realize these ordinances were under the Mosaic Law and that Christ fulfilled that Law. I am offering this text to show the Lord’s feelings about those that would want to expose the faults and shame of another. This conduct toward others was so important, the Law specifically prohibited the exposing the “nakedness” of parents, step-parents, siblings, step-siblings, son or daughter-in-laws, brother or sister-in-laws, grandchildren, uncles or aunts. The Law declared such exposure to be morally disgusting unto God. The King James terminology used to describe it was “an abomination”. Such exposure was an abomination regardless of whether that which was revealed was true or false.

This sharing process (exposing the nakedness of another) most often results in gossip, slander and backbiting. In spite of the numerous Scriptures against such, the busybody may attempt to justify their sin as “sounding a warning” to their fellow members of the body of Christ. Surely we can see the fallacies in such attempts to justify wrong.

I was stunned by some statistics a few years ago when I moved back to the northeast. While doing some demographic research on my area, I saw that this region had the highest number of “born-again believers” not attending church. I have a problem with the concept of a born-again believer not going to church, but regardless, I wonder how many of the millions making up this statistic may have quit attending after being wounded by someone that did attend church? I wonder how many could be the victim of “busybodies”? We as the Church, the Bride of Christ, must realize the threat of the busybody and take an appropriate stand against this sin.

There are some things that you and I can do to help stop the busybody. I think one of our more obvious efforts is praying for them. Scripture (1 Thessalonians 5:17) tells us to “Pray without ceasing” and rightly so because we do have so much to pray about. I never want to underestimate the power of prayer but we need to realize that many times our responsibilities do not stop with prayer. The Lord often answers a proper prayer by showing us additional things we need to do. Prayer is a great beginning of action but quite often, it is only the beginning.

Among our actions is the necessity that we do not participate in their sin. We must be sensitive to the content of our conversations because a busybody will often manipulate us if we are not alert. Again, remember the “rule of thumb” I mentioned earlier from Philippians 4:8. Here is a challenge for you; try to recall the last thirty minute conversation you had with a fellow Christian. How long would it have been if the instructions in this verse were applied?

In spite of my challenge I am a realist. I have many friends and I love to laugh and have a good time with them. I do not believe that every part of our conversations have to be about God or the church, but they should not be ungodly. If the conversation is about others, it should be either positive in content or truly positive in motive. Notice that I said “truly positive in motive.” We have probably all heard the stories of people giving prayer requests as a means of talking about someone’s problems. It’s not enough to make our conversations sound proper to others; we must remember the Lord is seeing the intent of our heart.

I was recently touched by a young lady’s email that spoke about a number of church attendees going out to eat after church. While eating, they were talking about an individual who needed prayer because of a supposed sin in her life. Of course, this “sin” had to be discussed in detail even though these specifics were nothing but rumor, gossip and speculation! If our motive for talking about someone is not truly pure, we may very well be participating in the evil work of a busybody.

The effort of the busybody that may have initially been untiring may quickly become tiring if no one wants to listen to their conclusion. A common way for a busybody to begin their conversation is “have you heard about Sister’s Sally’s daughter” (just a name that someone recently used when telling me of a similar incident). Wonder what would happen if we said “no, but in all honesty, I haven’t prayed for either one of them yet today; why don’t we agree in prayer for them right now”? I can’t promise you that they will pray with you or that if they do, their prayer might not be sincere but they will probably think twice before trying to share their gossip with you again.

So far, we have prayed for them, refused to participate in their evil, and even tried to guide them to prayer but our responsibilities don’t stop here. It is also important that we forgive them for their sin. Even though you are not “Sally” or “Sally’s daughter”, they have still done you wrong if they tried to involve you with either their efforts or their results. We might as well start by forgiving them. If we do not forgive them, while trying to do right toward them, the enemy might suggest to you “if they were talking about Sally’s daughter tonight, they were probably talking about you or your son yesterday”. If we make up our mind at the beginning that we are going to forgive them, the enemy’s words, whether true or false, has no control over us.

Additionally, Galatians 6:1 says “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted”. The meaning of the Greek word translated “fault” is, according to Strong’s Concordance, “an unintentional error or willful transgression”. This broad definition certainly makes the busybody a candidate for restoration. This will require a significant level of being spiritual and meek on our part, but it is our duty to them.

Being meek in this area should not be too difficult for us. We have all probably been the victim of the busybody before but if we are honest with ourselves, we have probably also been the busybody or at least in a league with one as well. The meekness, and the gentleness it requires, will come a lot easier as we begin to consider our own vulnerability to this sin.

The truth is being a busybody is not a hard sin to fall into. You can normally always find someone that at least appears to being doing wrong if you look hard enough. Likewise, there seems to always be someone wanting to hear about the other person’s wrong. It’s not a sin that you have to go to the bar or nightclub to commit because it is probably more common in a church setting or during “Christian fellowship”. It’s not a sin that you necessarily fall into because you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol; you only need to not be under the influence of a spiritual mind.

Possibly one of the greater challenges to restoring this individual may be their church position or their status in the church. Those in leadership or respected church positions are often those who are, or have been, the victim of the attack. Along with their increased visibility comes increased vulnerability to people “judging” what they see or think they see. The hurt from such attacks may make it easier for those leaders to respond in like manner especially if there is an opportunity to get back at the one who attacked us. Such actions or feelings cannot be condoned but remember, all it takes, is not being under the influence of a spiritual mind.

It would probably be better if it was always the leadership under attack. If it were, they should at least eventually recognize the enemy’s attack and be spiritual enough to overcome it. Unfortunately however, it is not just the leadership being attacked. It is sometimes the new convert who only accepted the Lord three weeks ago or it could be the grandmother who has been a faithful member of the church for forty years. Anyone can be vulnerable to the attack of the busybody. One of the potential threats of such is when we are caught off guard by the attack of a “Christian.” We warn people of Satan’s attacks and temptations but we don’t often tell about Brother or Sister Busybody.

Whether it is our church leaders, the new convert that we led to the Lord, our child, our grandmother or ourselves that was the newest victim of the busybody, we should have a heart of restoration toward them. Remember Saul of Tarsus; he had done much damage to the church and he continued to pose a great threat, but all it took was a conversion. Remember Peter sleeping when the Lord told him to “watch and pray”. We recall him swearing and denying that he even knew Jesus as the Lord was on trial. The thing that separated Peter from that time and the Day of Pentecost was a conversion.

The busybody, while doing their evil works, while striving to complete their evil objective, may possibly be doing such ignorantly. They may even be under the false assumption they are doing a work for God. They may be doing it with a malicious heart and working hard to do nothing less than destroy someone. Whatever their motive, whether or not they even realize their motive, they could still be a valuable asset to the Kingdom of God if a true conversion takes place.

It would be a blessing to the family of God if their investigative abilities were spent examining the Word or God instead of the business of others. It would be of great benefit to the Kingdom if their efforts were spent building up the saints instead of tearing them down. Consider the blessing they could be if they used their ability to get others involved in outreach or a Bible study instead of gossip. All that really stands between them being a busybody or a profitable servant is a true conversion; a conversion involving restoration. Their conversion may be one that can be largely impacted by you!

There are busybodies in the workplace, the schools and practically every other setting. These pose potential harm where ever they are. Since the church involves our spiritual life in addition to our natural one, they are more harmful when operating in the church. It is imperative that we recognize their threat and do our part to stop their evil work. While working to stop the sin, let’s don’t forget to be compassionate to the sinner. Be a believer in conversion and do your part toward their restoration.