The Art of Self-Defenselessness

What to do when you are falsely accused

This post is going to examine a concept that is Biblical, and is another one at which I suck. In fact, it may be my biggest character flaw. However, I know I am not the only one that struggles with this, so I want to be honest about my shortcomings in this area and see if we can all get some relief from this.

The topic is enduring being falsely accused. We will discuss the art of self-defenselessness. Now that's a crazy sounding phrase. Usually defending yourself is a good thing, right? It is nearly always right morally to defend yourself and your loved ones from physical harm.

Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

But this post isn’t about physical harm. We are going to discuss things that actually hurt much worse than physical attacks.

The poor handling of false accusations is maybe my biggest flaw. You see, I am naturally a people pleaser. I want everyone to love me. When someone is repeatedly nasty and accusatory, many people can just blow that person off and walk away saying things like, “Oh well, who needs them?” I really have trouble with this. The way that trouble shows up in me is a vigorous self-defense. If you think something about me that is not right, I will not stop until you are corrected. This is the truth about me, and it exposes my ungodliness. My flesh is wretched, and pride is its worst expression.

I will ask and answer four questions in this post. The first question is directed toward accusers. The last three are addressed to the accused.

1) How does God view the act of unjustly accusing someone?

It is an evil thing to falsely accuse someone, forcing them to defend themselves against a made up accusation.

Let’s look at a few verses:

There are six things the Lord hates. No, seven things he detests. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who sows discord in a family.
Proverbs 6:16-19

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Exodus 20:16

A false accusation is a false witness. It's a lie.

Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. Exodus 23:1

And here is another passage in Deuteronomy.

The judges must investigate the case thoroughly. If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite, you must impose on the accuser the sentence he intended for the other person. In this way, you will purge such evil from among you.
Deuteronomy 19:18-19

Wow. That is a pretty heavy penalty for lying. If you accused someone of murder back in the day and your accusation was proven false, you received the penalty for murder. God takes false accusations very seriously. If you are accusing someone falsely, stop it!

The remaining three points are for those who are the victims, those who have been on the other end of these accusations.

2) How did Jesus respond to false accusations?

The guards in charge of Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him and said, “Prophesy to us! Who hit you that time?”  And they hurled all sorts of terrible insults at him.
Luke 22:63-65

Now remember, this is Jesus, the Son of God, the Creator of everything. Without him, nothing was created that was created. And this is how he was treated. Let’s look at some more unfairness and harsh treatment he endured.

The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”
Luke 23, verses 35 to 38.

Consider this scene. Jesus has been tortured, beaten, whipped, and he is nailed to the cross, dying. he asks for water, because he is thirsty. And, as he is suffering and dying for me and everyone else that will come to him, the people he is suffering for gave him vinegar to drink. There was no reprieve from the mistreatment, from the unfairness that Jesus went through.

Let’s look at another Apostle describing the same scene.

Then they began to spit in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. And some slapped him,
Matt 26:67

In each of these situations, do you know what Jesus did? He just kept quiet. He was disrespected and abused more than any being could ever be, because he was the sinless Son of God coming to offer new life to people. And instead of being worshipped as he deserved, he was spit on, punched, slapped, and called Beelzebub.

How did Jesus respond? The Bible says that, just as a lamb before his shearers was silent, Jesus did not say anything. Man, that is not like me. I am the opposite of that. But that same Jesus lives inside of me, so there is hope.

3) What should we do when we are unjustly accused?

Have you been disrespected by those who are supposed to respect and love you? You're not alone, trust me.

 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

“I will take revenge;
    I will pay them back,”
    says the Lord.
Romans 12:19

This is something I get wrong almost all the time. I don’t take revenge every time when I am hurt, but I sure want to. I have thoughts about the offender that are of the opposite spirit of this verse which is: leave it to God

Leaving it to God. That is my challenge and struggle. But I know I am not the only one. And I do not believe anyone can meet this challenge of enduring false accusations without the indwelling of Jesus. He is the One who has the power to be this gracious.

See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.

1 Thessalonians 5:15

Instead of yielding to the instruction of the above verse, we become involved in something insidious: passive aggression.

We love to point out passive aggression whenever we see it in others, but we all do it. We withhold material things, our presence, and even our affection from someone until we get what we want. And we do it with a smile on our face.

Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.
1 Peter 3:9

For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

He never sinned,
    nor ever deceived anyone.
He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
    nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
    who always judges fairly.
1 Peter 2:21-23

Jesus never sinned nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted. He didn’t threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. This is God’s prescription for dealing with unfairness and disrespect. The application of this prescription to our lives starts with an awareness of how we really are - how bad our pride really is. When we get this awareness, Jesus has an answer.

4) Does this leave us defenseless?

The answer is an emphatic no. We are discussing self-defenselessness which is not the same thing as defenselessness. We are not left defenseless because Jesus is our Defender. And if we short circuit his defense, we ruin things. If we short circuit God’s defense of us by defending ourselves, things will get worse. If we see God as our Defender, then we don’t chase after the offender. We leave them to God.

Let's look at Psalm 57. David is writing this when he's being pursued by Saul.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy!
    I look to you for protection.
I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings
    until the danger passes by.
Psalm 57:1

That is where we are to take refuge - under the shadow of God’s wings.

Psalm 46:1 says,

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Who or what is my refuge and strength, my ability to defend myself, argue with you, and prove my point? No. God is our refuge and strength, and He is very present when we are in trouble. He is not far off, hoping we will figure it out.

Let's look at Zechariah 3:1-5

Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel’s right hand, making accusations against Jeshua.  And the Lord said to Satan, “I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire.”

Jeshua’s clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel. So the angel said to the others standing there, “Take off his filthy clothes.” And turning to Jeshua he said, “See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.”

Then I said, “They should also place a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean priestly turban on his head and dressed him in new clothes while the angel of the Lord stood by.

I do believe that some of the worst pain in this life comes from false accusations, which break relationships and cause a whirlwind of turmoil. It is certainly the hardest thing to handle for me, especially when the accusations come from people that I love. I go into this self-defense mode. Yet, if I'm honest, my flesh is rotten to the core.

I have a friend named Paul. I once co-pastored a church with him and several others. Paul brought a letter to our church that was written by his father, Toivo Seppo. Toivo was the Vice President of the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship in Michigan. Toivo wrote the letter just days before he died. We framed the letter and put it up on the wall in our church. The following excerpt of that letter shows us the way to handle false accusations.

I know what it is to cry out, “Oh wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me?”, and desire to be rid of this vileness that is within me. Not only that, I am meek, which means that now that I have experienced this true view of myself, nobody else can hurt me.

Nobody else can insult me. Nobody can ever say anything too bad about me. I have seen myself and my greatest enemy does not know the worst about me.

Toivo Seppo

“…my greatest enemy does not know the worst about me.” Christians, we need to have this attitude in us. We need to agree with Toivo. We know about our sin problem. We know that we think some vile things sometimes, and we even do some of them. But then, when someone falsely accuses us of stealing a pencil, we go off the rails.

I lose it sometimes and my East Coast alter ego comes out and he wants to bust some heads. But I have to think about Jesus. I have to remember that even though He was absolutely sinless, He was falsely accused of horrible things, and He said we would be treated the same way.

So when you are treated this way, remember Jesus has been there. Jesus shares the pain that you feel. He will make it right, and He will defend you in his timing, not yours. You are clothed in his righteousness, so do not receive condemnation from anyone. (Romans 8:1)

I want to end this post with one last verse.

I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death…
Philippians 3:10

Christian, when you suffer false accusations, you are sharing in Christ's sufferings. And I believe this is some of the worst suffering He went through.

betrayal
false accusations

You want to talk about disrespect? He created everything. And then he came to visit the planet and his creation rejected him, falsely accused him, beat him and killed him.

And he said we will share in his sufferings. It hurts. Find someone to talk to that you can trust. Get prayer. Get counseling when you are hurting so bad from being mistreated.

But most of all, leave it in God's hands. You are clothed in the same festal robes in which God clothed Jeshua. You are clothed in Christ's righteousness. You do not have to prove that to anyone. And you especially cannot prove it in the middle of being attacked and responding with your flesh. I do that sometimes and it never turns out good.

Do you see the importance of grace here? Do you see the importance of being grounded in the fact that your salvation has nothing to do with your behavior? If you don't believe that, these false accusations will cause you to doubt your salvation. You may think, “maybe the accuser is right.”

Nope. Your accusers on earth are acting like the Accuser of the Brethren, the Devil. You are righteous because you are clothed in Christ's righteousness. Look to the Spirit of God when you are falsely accused. Before you answer the accusation, pray and ask the Lord for the proper response.

Many times, just like Jesus, we must act like a lamb before its shearers. We must be quiet and leave our defense in God's hand.

One day, wrongs will be made right.

One day, faith will be made sight.

Until then, God's acceptance is all you really require, and that is guaranteed through the cross of Jesus. If you have not come to that cross, then you will not have the ability to respond well to false accusations. You might do OK for a while, but eventually you will lose it.

I still do not get this right most of the time, and I have been a Christian for over four decades. But I have a compass, a roadmap for suffering. It is the example of Jesus. And the person who lived that example lives in my heart. So he helps me get through these horrible things.

Remember, you are in great company. The Lord Himself lived this kind of suffering. And, believe it or not, the fellowship of his suffering that we experience when we are treated unjustly is very precious to the Lord.