Responding to Mistreatment
As shepherds, we who lead in the church have both the privilege and responsibility of tending and guiding our flock. We can take great satisfaction when that flock is flourishing and healthy. And when there is consistent reproduction, we celebrate with great joy.
However, there’s another aspect to shepherding a flock that has been amplified in the past year. Many times, the sheep don’t like the way they are being led or being fed. And, on occasions, those sheep bite.
In my conversations with pastors, this has surfaced time and again.
“With every decision I make, it seems that a large group of people aren’t happy – and they don’t hesitate to let me know.”
“I’ve been accused of being both foolish and faithless…of ignoring the issues of social justice and of focusing too much on the issues of social justice…of caring too much about the political scene and of caring too little about the political scene.”
“In taking the temperatures of the children entering Sunday School, I was accused by one family of setting their kids up to take the mark of the Beast. They left the church and are spreading their slander.”
“I received more barbed anonymous notes in this past year than at any other time in my ministry. Not only are the complaints caustic – the accusation is savage.”
So how do we respond? The Apostle Peter referenced the mistreatment 1st-century believers faced in his first epistle and he offered some sage counsel using Jesus as the ultimate example.
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps…
“He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
I Peter 2:21-23
In this case, the mistreatment came from the outside. And we can certainly apply his counsel to that. This is a time when evangelicals are easy targets for unbelievers and skeptics.
But I’d like to suggest that we can also apply his counsel to mistreatment that comes from the inside. For those occasions when the sheep bite.
So, what did Jesus provide for us by way of example?
1. Jesus demonstrated that mistreatment is to be expected.
We need to get rid of the idea that if we live right, nothing bad will ever happen to us, no lies will ever be told about us, and good guys ultimately win in every situation. It didn’t happen that way with Jesus. If we think living rightly ensures we will avoid injustice and suffering, then we need to check which Savior we are following.
We need to get rid of the idea that if we live right, nothing bad will ever happen to us, no lies will ever be told about us, and good guys ultimately win in every situation. It didn’t happen that way with Jesus.
2. Jesus refused to retaliate when He suffered.
The natural response when we get “bit” is to bite back. To offer a sharp rejoinder…to fire back a stinging email…to use our position as a platform for payback. Jesus didn’t do that. He absorbed the hurt and shouldered the pain, suffering in silence.
The natural response when we get “bit” is to bite back. Jesus refused to retaliate when He suffered.
3. Jesus trusted that in the end He would be vindicated.
While we would like to think that we would be quickly vindicated when mistreated, we need to understand that vindication may not happen in this world. Jesus recognized that fact and accepted it. He waited for vindication from his Heavenly Father and for reward in his heavenly country. If he never got vindication or reward here, that was okay. He was a stranger and exile, and his real home was heaven, so he waited for that.
4. Jesus continued doing good even when He was being slandered.
He kept demonstrating grace. He kept doing miracles. He kept forgiving people, even when they were nailing him to the cross. He took the long view of vindication, letting his good works speak for themselves.
What will silence the accusers in your life? Not your social media posts. Not your use of the bully pulpit. Your good works.
Jesus continued doing good even when He was being slandered. He took the long view of vindication, letting his good works speak for themselves.
Abraham Lincoln, arguably our greatest president, experienced more slander and mistreatment than anyone who has ever held that office. On one occasion, when he was yet again blistered by the press, his secretary pleaded with him. “Mr. President, aren’t you even going to defend yourself?”
Lincoln gave a sad smile and said, “Where do I start? Where would it end? Rather, I will live my life in such a way that it shows those lies to be what they are – if not in the present then in the future.”
I wish I could tell you that the sheep will slow down their biting in this next year. Maybe they will…but maybe they won’t. You can’t control that. What you can control is your response when you get bit.
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