My Sunday School teacher made a statement several weeks ago that has stuck with me.
“That’s really none of my business.”
During our class discussion, she related a conversation with a friend who started a sentence something along the lines of “I heard that…” She immediately stopped her friend and suggested they change the subject. She also shared how a “prayer request” is often wrapped in detail that at worst amounts to gossip and at best isn’t necessary.
Ouch.
I confess that I have been guilty on both counts. The line between necessary facts and too much information is a fine one, indeed. We humans are information consumers, and the Information Superhighway gives us round-the-clock access to infinite amounts of minutiae. We love a good story and hate not having all the particulars.
A popular social media meme serves as a good reminder that what other people think of me is none of my business. I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. Unfortunately, I hadn’t yet reached that conclusion the day, years ago, a colleague called indicating an urgent need to talk. The urgency? Someone made a disparaging comment about me to others. I know the caller meant well, but I saw no way to address the situation without making what was ultimately a tiny matter much worse. Ultimately, I spent a lot of time stewing about the matter when I should have just let it go.
Much of what I see online is really none of my business. Once upon a time, affected parties addressed misunderstandings and concerns in a private conversation. Far too often now the one other person who should be in the discussion doesn’t realize there’s an issue until they see the commentary on their news feed.
As I child, I learned a lesson that seems long lost today: the importance of minding my own business. So many topics once “off limits” in polite conversation are now a click away, and the court of public opinion is now in session 24 hours a day.
Considering what really isn’t my business, what is my business?
In A Christmas Carol, deceased businessman Jacob Marley declared, “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”1
Sounds like a passage or two of Scripture, doesn’t it?
Matthew related Jesus’ words in his Gospel account: “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12 NLT). Later, the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love” (Ephesians 4:2 NLT).
Ebenezer Scrooge dismissed such notions as “humbug” until confronted by a vision of his own dismal past and dreadful future. Mr. Scrooge subsequently endeavored, and succeeded, in changing his ways. “He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.”2
Scrooge learned and minded his business well.
May we all do the same.
1Dickens, Charles. [n.d.]. “A Christmas Carol,” SparkNotes <https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/christmascarol/section1/> [accessed 1 September 2022]
2Dickens, Charles. [n.d.]. “A Christmas Carol,” SparkNotes <https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/christmascarol/section5/> [accessed 1 September 2022]
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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