Are You Slightly Cannibalistic?

 A lot of people in my denomination are vegetarian; many are even vegan. Some are omnivorous, and a few are raw foodies or paleos. Our choices in diet are a result of our desire to be healthy so that we can feel better, a desire to be perceived as a good Adventist, or the desire to have clear minds and strong bodies so we can hear God more clearly and be better used by Him.  
Personally, I am 99.99 % vegan, but in some rare circumstances where common sense or courtesy are my best Christian choice, I don't feel guilty to step outside of veganism. However, those situations are certainly very rare and I usually have better options than to eat animal products.

But diet is not what I wanted to talk about. We all have different motivations and ideas about what we should eat and we are free to make our own choices about that; however, no matter what we choose, I think generally everyone (not just Adventists) enjoys eating meat to some extent.
What am I saying?

This is not about animals; I'm talking about eating people.

Let me give you some scenarios.

I'm on the phone, listening to someone tell me about someone else they are worried about. I need to pray for this other person, because they are doing this and that other (only slightly) terrible thing that is bound to lead them down the road to destruction. Details are numerous, and many speculations of future iniquity are made, all with the admonition to pray hard for the poor sinner. 
 
Next scenario:

Sabbath morning, I'm sitting in the foyer of the church, writing in my journal while Sabbath School is going on in the sanctuary. Two older ladies are visiting at the other end of the foyer. I'm desperately trying to focus on what I'm reading in the Bible and translating it into my own thoughts, when I subconsciously tap into the ladies' conversation. I miss the first part, but catch a sigh, "You just never know what people are gonna do..."

"She sure had a mean spirit." 

"I can't believe..."

"What going to happen now?"

I'm not listening with enough attention to know who or what they are talking about, but I know they are having a good old fashioned gossip session. The gloom coming from that end of the foyer reaches its grasping tendrils for me and I wonder if the ladies realize that the brief pleasure they get from relating someone's sins isn't worth the darkness that comes soon after.

And again:

I'm chilling on my bed, scrolling through social media, subconsciously enjoying the shock of seeing photographic evidence of different friends' bad choices. This one is now smoking. That one just got a tattoo. Oh my! Who is she with? He looks like a bum! I just can't believe how far she's fallen.
Of course, I'm disappointed and saddened, but a magnetic power tempts me to keep scrolling, keep discovering more shocking things I didn't know. Curiosity lures me along with a swipe of the finger. When I finally pry my self away, usually by slinging the phone to the end of the bed, I feel slightly depressed. But I still relish the knowledge I have just gained. I know I should pray for my friends, but I feel a strange sort of pleasure in seeing proof of others' mistakes.

And I don't think I'm alone here. Like I said, I think it's mainly a subconscious thing. But  we wouldn't admit it! We are Christians, and we know better than to admit enjoying gossip. Instead, we give rather detailed prayer requests, want to "check up" on how a person is going -not by asking them, but by asking another person about them- , and feel holy about offering public, fervent prayers about the problems of someone else.

Even in our private prayers...

"Dear God, you saw how she was dressed. You know the sin in her heart. Please wake her up to her condition. I just know she's bound to end up doing far worse, and...bla bla bla."

And then we play imagined scenarios where we see our "prayer victim" committing all sorts of atrocities that we will need to pray them out of. Of course.

Hello? Am I the only one who has ever done this?

This is gossip in it's purest form; private, unspoken gossip that lives in our heads.

We love to eat people in our minds, and we often have the best intentions for doing it. We want others to know about someone's sin, so they can be prayed for.

This is Adventist, Christian cannibalism.

.............

So...

What now?

A wise lady once told me, "Unless you and the person you're talking to are part of the problem or part of the solution, you should keep other people's business quiet."

I think it should go father than our words, too. If I'm thinking negatively about others, I'm bound to share my thoughts in some way or another.

I want to have a healthy mind, and I think letting my thoughts feed on Christ instead of other people is the best thing I can do for that. I don't want to get pleasure from seeing others fall, or from making their faults public, even in a "private" conversation to only one other person. I want to think the best, and speak the best of others, and focus on Jesus' merits, instead of others' faults.

What about you? Are people part of your diet, or are you eating the Bread of Life alone?