Taking a Stand Against Spiritual Bullies

I grew up having to deal with bullies. I was a skinny kid with horn-rimmed glasses (usually taped) and made good grades. I might as well have worn a target on my chest. My small 10 grade public school got all the kids that were kicked out of the larger church school. The teachers used to put all the honor roll kids on the front rows as a kind of human shield against the barbarians in the back. My Mom must have worried that I had hemophilia I came home with blood on me so often.

From that experience, however, I learned to be mule-headed and somewhat indifferent to pain. I still have a knot on my forehead where a kid pushed me face-first into a concrete wall. I think he cracked my skull. In those days you didn't have CAT scans for that sort of thing and doctors were very expensive. You learned to be resilient and you get very tired of knuckling under to bullies. You also learn all sorts of subversive ways to resist them.

As an adult you expect that you won't have to put up with that sort of thing. Sadly, bullying takes on a different form among grownups, but bullies still exist. Spiritual bullying is the most pernicious form of bullying I think. It happens in religion, politics and culture one way and another. Resisting these people can be every bit as difficult as standing up to a giant 5th grade thug.

In church it's the bony-fingered self-righteous who use their position's power to intimidate others to get their own way. We've all met the woman or man that Ray Stevens, in his song Mississippi Squirrel Revival called "Sister Bertha Better Than You." In politics, it's the use of political power to crush any opposition through legal means, bureaucratic intimidation or by silencing those who speak out against whatever they are up to.

In the culture, it can show up as the homeowner's association that tries to fine you for flying a flag. I know of an HOA that tried to fine homeowner's for planting their rose bushes. Another tried to fine a woman recovering from cancer because she was two weeks late mowing her grass. I've seen community members who threaten you because they think you raised funds for a local nonprofit organization without getting permission from whoever thinks they are in charge of that sort of thing. Happened to me a couple of times.

In this day and age, as we close in on the end of time, I am reminded of Christ's admonition that we need to stand strong in such times as these. It's can be hard to do that. Often there is a price to be paid. An Air Force colonel named John Boyd used to tell the pilots he trained that they faced a choice of two paths in their service. Along one path they could do what was good for the Air Force. Along the other, you could play the political games. Play the games and you could count on steady advancement, awards and a long career.  Do what is right and, Boyd told them, you can expect that you'll never be promoted beyond colonel. 

There is a price to be paid to stand for the right, though the heavens fall. Your reward may not come in this world, but God is watching and the reward he offers for your faithfulness is far beyond the rewards of men.

Jesus once told his disciples a story. It was about Pharisees who stood on a corner praying to God and thanking Him that they were better than other men who were simply praying for God's mercy. Jesus said, plainly, "They have had their reward."  

That's all they'll get it seems. For those who like David, Jonathan, Gideon, the disciples and Jesus Himself, who stand for what is right, like a tree planted by the waters, shall not be moved. For these brave souls, there is a reward beyond measure waiting. For the bullies? As Jesus said, "They have had their reward."

© 2023 by Tom King