“Just Between You And Me . . .”

“Just between You and Me . . .”

You must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you. Matthew 12:36-37

Every January there is a mad scramble for jobs in the NFL. Someone recently described it to me as “musical chairs for grown-ups.” For every head coach who gets fired from a particular team, there are anywhere from sixteen to twenty-five other coaches and staff members from that same team who are fired too. In a given year, if seven or eight teams change head coaches, about 150 people are suddenly looking for work—trying to get up to speed as new coaches in new organizations, sliding into vacancies on other staffs, or heading into the college coaching ranks. A mad scramble.

People around the league end up spending hours on the phone swapping information: “I hear the guy in San Diego really doesn’t want to be there anymore; his mother is in Cleveland and is ill, so he’s trying to hook on with the Browns.” Unfortunately, sometimes the initial private conversation that was told in confidence—“Just between you and me . . . my mother is ill, so I’m wondering if I shouldn’t consider trying to move . . .”—becomes very public. And like the childhood game of telephone, the “facts” get muddled.

The next thing you know, it’s all over the league: so-and-so wants out of San Diego. And when it comes back around to the front office of the Chargers, they might not be too happy.

Think twice before you say idle words, even if you think they are justified. Someday, we’ll all be asked to account for what we say.

Uncommon Key > If you have been asked to keep a confidence, honor that request. Think carefully before sharing information with someone else. Make sure “just between you and me” stays that way. Deflect gossip about a person with uplifting and edifying words about them, and never say anything you wouldn’t want that person to hear.