Character assassination
Did anyone ever try to destroy your character? Not steal it as in identity theft but destroy your good reputation by lies. It's pretty commonplace. Take marriage for instance, here is one partner lovingly endeavouring to do right when unexpectedly an angry spouse accuses that he is selfish, uncaring and deliberately annoying. In a bewildered and confused moment he understands that all the right he has been trying to do is gone, lost, and all that is left is a lot of meanness he didn't do.
Children do it to parents, disregarding a life time of care they accuse their parents of being the cause of all the child's problems and responsible for all the bad things that the child has experienced. Its sad when it happens, and some parents have to wait years before a finally mature child vindicates them.
When it happens at work is really feels like murder. Take for instance the ambitious person you've been trying to help who sees an opportunity to get into the favor and confidence of your boss by lying about your performance and reliability. If the boss is gratified by having someone who confides in him and needs to find a scapegoat for his own failures, you see all you've worked to accomplish ruined and lost.
At the first church I pastored a couple of power hungry females circulated the story that I had called them names. They quickly gathered supporters who never asked me if the story was true but threatened to resign in sympathy with these two women. A resignation of leading members is a crisis of care for a pastor. Rather than fight their accusations I announced that I would be the first to resign. That resignation lost me the opportunity to lay a firm basis for a successful church career.
A man praying to God describes the way his character was assassinated. "They beset me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, even while I make prayer for them. So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love." That sums it up: that's what some people will do to you; they return evil for good and hatred for love.
If you read this same man's prayer which is recorded in Psalm 109 you will be quite shocked. He prays curses on his persecutors! Not just prayers for their defeat but vindictive cruel curses on the people who have betrayed him, on their wives and their children. God must surely have been offended by the cruelty he was asked to perpetrate. On another occasion God does his own cursing, unrequested, upon a queen who made false accusations that resulted in the judicial execution of one of the nation's property owners.
When you are betrayed and slandered, when your opportunities are reduced because of untruths and your reputation ruined by lies how do you respond? Well, you could curse the liars in the name of God. But God is famous for forgiving the wicked and being merciful to the unmerciful. You could tell yourself that because Jesus submitted to an injustice you will allow these evil doers to crucify you and your reputation. Or you could decide that what has happened to you is the will of God and you will willingly submit to his will. Of course you could do what Jesus recommended, bless those who curse us and pray for people who treat us spitefully.
What does a person who cannot believe in God do when evil is stronger than they are? Would they justify responding with hatred and malice? If they did they would be no different to some Christians. It is when evil is stronger than we are that we are tempted to excuse ourselves for responding with more and greater evil. We claim that it was necessary for our survival. But can a person who claims to trust God be excused for confronting evil with more evil?
Jesus did allow his words to be twisted and lied about. He did submit to the unjust condemnation of a judge who acknowledged his innocence and pronouned the death sentence. Therefore should we allow ourselves to be metaphorically crucified whenever someone returns evil for love. I would hesitate to say yes. The reason is that Jesus allowed himself to be crucified only when he had finished teaching and when the crucifixion would be more powerful than his exoneration. Until then I would somewhat hesitantly suggest that there is a difference between being a helpless victim and a triumphant martyr.
Should we call these lies the will of God and submit to this evil that has been unleashed upon us when we were doing good? God is present in all of our lives, his prophets teach that nothing can happen to us except that which he allows. Because God allowed it that does not mean we should accept the injustice and suffer submissively. There is a great value in learning to obstruct all forms of evil. In learning to resist the evil that is done to us we also learn how to defend others from the same evil. I am not sure about the suffering which is called submission to God's will. I think perhaps it is an over-extension of what we know about the will of God. What I am quite sure about is that God loves justice, which means equity of persons, fairness of opportunity and honesty in all we do. If we choose to resist evil and fight against it, it is better that we fight for justice for all people, at all times. In my own experience that first incident of lying accusation resulted in my becoming a strong defender of other pastors in a similar situation. That God loves justice is so often stated by the prophets that there can be no doubt about it.
Another thing I feel quite certain about is that if we resist evil by returning good for evil we will have the support of God, because this is how he himself acts towards humans. 'Overcome evil with good' is the instruction to faithful believers. Some times we will be immediately and obviously successful. Other times we will not see the result of our efforts. God moves slowly, but our good is aided by his good, and after all this life is not all there is.
Loud leaders and huge crowds of believers denounce some of the wrongs that are done by society. Where are the leaders, where is the movement that will unite us in blessing those who curse us? Who will encourage the people of God so that all of us, all of us, become energetic and effective at repaying evil with good?
Psalm 1o9
1st Book of Kings chapter 21. verses 1-27
Children do it to parents, disregarding a life time of care they accuse their parents of being the cause of all the child's problems and responsible for all the bad things that the child has experienced. Its sad when it happens, and some parents have to wait years before a finally mature child vindicates them.
When it happens at work is really feels like murder. Take for instance the ambitious person you've been trying to help who sees an opportunity to get into the favor and confidence of your boss by lying about your performance and reliability. If the boss is gratified by having someone who confides in him and needs to find a scapegoat for his own failures, you see all you've worked to accomplish ruined and lost.
At the first church I pastored a couple of power hungry females circulated the story that I had called them names. They quickly gathered supporters who never asked me if the story was true but threatened to resign in sympathy with these two women. A resignation of leading members is a crisis of care for a pastor. Rather than fight their accusations I announced that I would be the first to resign. That resignation lost me the opportunity to lay a firm basis for a successful church career.
A man praying to God describes the way his character was assassinated. "They beset me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, even while I make prayer for them. So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love." That sums it up: that's what some people will do to you; they return evil for good and hatred for love.
If you read this same man's prayer which is recorded in Psalm 109 you will be quite shocked. He prays curses on his persecutors! Not just prayers for their defeat but vindictive cruel curses on the people who have betrayed him, on their wives and their children. God must surely have been offended by the cruelty he was asked to perpetrate. On another occasion God does his own cursing, unrequested, upon a queen who made false accusations that resulted in the judicial execution of one of the nation's property owners.
When you are betrayed and slandered, when your opportunities are reduced because of untruths and your reputation ruined by lies how do you respond? Well, you could curse the liars in the name of God. But God is famous for forgiving the wicked and being merciful to the unmerciful. You could tell yourself that because Jesus submitted to an injustice you will allow these evil doers to crucify you and your reputation. Or you could decide that what has happened to you is the will of God and you will willingly submit to his will. Of course you could do what Jesus recommended, bless those who curse us and pray for people who treat us spitefully.
What does a person who cannot believe in God do when evil is stronger than they are? Would they justify responding with hatred and malice? If they did they would be no different to some Christians. It is when evil is stronger than we are that we are tempted to excuse ourselves for responding with more and greater evil. We claim that it was necessary for our survival. But can a person who claims to trust God be excused for confronting evil with more evil?
Jesus did allow his words to be twisted and lied about. He did submit to the unjust condemnation of a judge who acknowledged his innocence and pronouned the death sentence. Therefore should we allow ourselves to be metaphorically crucified whenever someone returns evil for love. I would hesitate to say yes. The reason is that Jesus allowed himself to be crucified only when he had finished teaching and when the crucifixion would be more powerful than his exoneration. Until then I would somewhat hesitantly suggest that there is a difference between being a helpless victim and a triumphant martyr.
Should we call these lies the will of God and submit to this evil that has been unleashed upon us when we were doing good? God is present in all of our lives, his prophets teach that nothing can happen to us except that which he allows. Because God allowed it that does not mean we should accept the injustice and suffer submissively. There is a great value in learning to obstruct all forms of evil. In learning to resist the evil that is done to us we also learn how to defend others from the same evil. I am not sure about the suffering which is called submission to God's will. I think perhaps it is an over-extension of what we know about the will of God. What I am quite sure about is that God loves justice, which means equity of persons, fairness of opportunity and honesty in all we do. If we choose to resist evil and fight against it, it is better that we fight for justice for all people, at all times. In my own experience that first incident of lying accusation resulted in my becoming a strong defender of other pastors in a similar situation. That God loves justice is so often stated by the prophets that there can be no doubt about it.
Another thing I feel quite certain about is that if we resist evil by returning good for evil we will have the support of God, because this is how he himself acts towards humans. 'Overcome evil with good' is the instruction to faithful believers. Some times we will be immediately and obviously successful. Other times we will not see the result of our efforts. God moves slowly, but our good is aided by his good, and after all this life is not all there is.
Loud leaders and huge crowds of believers denounce some of the wrongs that are done by society. Where are the leaders, where is the movement that will unite us in blessing those who curse us? Who will encourage the people of God so that all of us, all of us, become energetic and effective at repaying evil with good?
Psalm 1o9
1st Book of Kings chapter 21. verses 1-27
Labels: crucifixion, submission, will of God
posted by Jessie Coates at 8:20 PM
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