I meditated on Psalm 101:5 – 8 and I can’t help but feel strongly about how this resonates with the culture we have built at SEO Hacker. You see, we have a no-gossip policy. People who gossip are warned once and, if they do it again, they are relieved from their responsibilities in the team.
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Here is Psalm 101:
5 I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors. I will not endure conceit and pride.
6 I will search for faithful people to be my companions. Only those who are above reproach will be allowed to serve me.
7 I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house, and liars will not stay in my presence.
8 My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked and free the city of the LORD from their grip.
In Greek, the word gossip or slander is also attributed to the word diabolos.
diabolos: slanderous, accusing falsely
Original Word: διάβολος, ον
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: diabolos
Phonetic Spelling: (dee-ab’-ol-os)
Definition: slanderous, accusing falsely
Usage: (adj. used often as a noun), slanderous; with the article: the Slanderer (par excellence), the Devil.
The reason why we are radically against gossip and slander because people who participate in those activities are, well, Devils. They are out to divide, accuse falsely (lie), and deceive. This makes for a horrible working environment. They may be highly competent, productive workers or they may be incompentent (which makes it so much easier to let go of them) but in any case, we still boot them out of the organization.
There is no way they can stay in the team.
People who participate in gossip and slander are people who are insecure – and who feel a bit bigger by talking crap about other people negatively to people who are not part of the solution.
In SEO Hacker, we define gossip as “when a negative is shared with someone who is not part of the solution.” It’s quite broad but it is also 100% true. Doing this will ruin the culture we have worked so hard to intentionally build.
Psalm 101 is written by King David. Arguably the most faithful king who ruled Israel before Christ. He knew that in order for him to have a free city, he has to weed the wicked out – slanderers, liars and deceivers among them.
So why are companies today trying to endure these kinds of people?
Fire them and free your city from their grip.
