The Christ-like Response to Lies, Persecution, and Character Attacks

1 Corinthians 4:12,13 - "...when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we entreat..."

It’s amazing how the Holy Spirit works.  In John 14:26, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will, “teach you all things and remind you of all the things I have said to you.”  Well, I was “reminded” this week in my daily devotions.  So, I’m going through 1 Corinthians, which of course deals with how the church (The Body of Christ) should behave.  When you get to chapter four, Paul is describing the life and attitude of an apostle, which he calls “God’s managers”, then he sums up the chapter by urging us to imitate him.  And the main topic of imitation is humility. Pride can manifest itself in a variety of ways.  One of which is how we typically respond when others mistreat us.

One thing I really, really hate is being lied on.  Now combine that with not being able to defend yourself, all the while knowing that someone is intentionally twisting and manipulating the facts in order to misrepresent you and your pure intentions to others (I’m getting heated just thinking about it, lol)!  But at the core of it is pride.  Pride in the sense of, “how dare you utter words against me out of your mouth, do you know who I am?”  “I’m Olu, and nobody gets away with speaking sideways about me!”  “Oh, you think you can talk jibber jabber and get away with it without any consequences?” (ok, let me calm down, lol) I mean, of course one shouldn’t be thrilled that their name is being falsely dragged through the mud, but our reaction to it should be an imitation of Christ’s humility (easier said than done...).

In 1 Corinthians 4:12-13, Paul gives three scenarios complete with proper, biblical “Body of Christ” reactions to each of them…

“…when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we entreat…”

This is undoubtedly the reaction of someone who has their pride in check, lol.  To understand what Paul was saying I did a word study of this passage.  To be “reviled” is to be subject to verbal abuse, and it has the idea of the use of severe, harsh condemnatory language.  The actual word Paul used is literally translated “being speared with words” (ouch)!  “Persecuted,” in the original language has the idea of eagerly running swiftly in a hostile manner in order to catch a person or a thing, giving all you have to harass, trouble, and/or molest them.  And finally, the word translated “slandered” is actually “being harm averred.”  So, after looking up what in the world “averred” meant (lol), I found that it meant to “allege or assert in pleading a cause.”  Now throw “harm” in front of it and you have someone alleging or asserting harm on you in a pleading fashion!  The English translation of the word Paul used is calumny (had to look up that one too), which is the act of uttering false charges or misrepresentations maliciously calculated to harm another’s reputation. Vicious!

So, putting it all together, when people are throwing severe, harsh spears of verbally abusive words, while eagerly chasing behind you in a hostile manner and with every thread of their being, in order to harass you, all the while screaming malicious, well-thought out lies, false charges, and blatant misrepresentations with the sole purpose of destroying your reputation (whew!) - when that happens to us, Paul gives us the proper, biblical response:

"...bless, ...endure, ...entreat"

(Now isn't that easy!)  Our, "Body of Christ" response is to bless them, that means I'm to "speak well of" or to "invoke a benediction of prosperity towards" them.  I'm to endure or tolerate or "bear with" the onslaught.  And finally, I'm to entreat.  Now, I was cool with this word until I looked it up.  It literally means, "to call beside."  Its the same word that means to intervene between two parties with a view of reconciling differences (oh joy, oh rapture). It also means to gain goodwill with pleasing acts of kindness.

This is our response.  Why?  Because of humility.  Paul says in Romans not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought (Romans 12:3), then in Philippians he tells us to have the same mindset as Christ (Philippians 2:5).  If they treated Christ Jesus, the God-Man Savior of the world this way, and he responded properly, who are we to respond any less?  Oh, and by the way, we have The Fullness of the Godhead in us, which give us access to the same power that raised Jesus from the dead - so not by my might, or by my power, but by your Spirit, dear Lord.  Paul said earlier in 1 Corinthians 4:9 that God displays us like dead men.  And guess what?  Dead men don't worry or stress or retaliate against people who revile, persecute, or slander them - because they are dead.  So being that we are dead to the flesh, we respond in life with Christlike imitation.  This is true Christianity.

My character, my reputation is very precious to me.  And when others attempt to destroy it with false accusations and clever omissions of the truth it really burns me up inside (before I read 1 Corinthians 4, ok maybe even a little bit after, lol).  But Paul says earlier in the chapter that what others think of me or portray me as is of little importance because how God views me is what really matters (1 Corinthians 4:3,4).  So go ahead, attack my character, paint a warped, false picture of my intentions and actions.  As long as I'm walking in the Spirit of humble obedience God says He will give me the strength to bless, endure, and entreat.

I love the fact that Paul doesn't say, "if" we are reviled, persecuted, or slandered, he says, "when."  If it hasn't happened to you, just you wait!  Oh, its not going to be easy, especially if we aren't operating with the full power of the Holy Spirit.  But with His help we can respond biblically in a way that is pleasing to our Lord. 

Father, help me.  Thank you for the power to respond like You.  Please work on my heart, mind, and soul that I may please you, even when others are acting against me.