When Falsely Accused
Introduction: I am certain there is no one here who has not at some time suffered from the particularly damaging and hurtful experience of being falsely accused. I personally find false accusation one of the most difficult trials to handle with a proper Christian spirit. I can handle disagreement, I can handle disappointment, I can even handle suffering, but I do not deal with false accusations graciously. Therefore, I have found the account of Paul’s experience in Jerusalem in Acts 21 to be very instructive and encouraging. He made some mistakes, as I frequently have, but he also did some things right, which I need to imitate. May God help us all as we examine his experience. Please stand as we read Acts 21:15-39:
After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom we were to stay.
17 After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us gladly. 18 And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard about them, they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; 21 and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. 22 So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Therefore, do as we tell you: we have four men who have a vow upon themselves; 24 take them along and purify yourself together with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and then everyone will know that there is nothing to what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also conform, keeping the Law. 25 But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we sent a letter, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.” 26 Then Paul took along the men, and the next day, after purifying himself together with them, he went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.
27 When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who instructs everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place!” 29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they thought that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 Then the whole city was provoked and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. 31 While they were intent on killing him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 He immediately took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered that he be bound with two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. 34 But among the crowd, some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be brought into the baracks. 35 When Paul got to the stairs, it came about that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob; 36 for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, “Away with him!”
37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he *said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” 39 But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”
Not every false accusation is a deliberate lie. In fact, most are very subtle twisting of the truth. I want us to look at four ways in which false accusations came upon Paul.
Ways in which false accusations come
Hearsay (21:20,21). In verse 20 & 21 the elders of the church in Jerusalem are delicately trying to explain to Paul that he has created a public relations problem for them. Thousands of Jews in their city have become Christians, but they haven’t abandoned their Judaism and are still zealous for the Law of Moses. They view Paul as a theological liberal since in his missionary work he refused to require that Gentiles become proselytes to Judaism before they became Christians. The Elders don’t want any unnecessary controversy in the Church, so they report to him the hear-say that is going around: “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What, then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.”
The key words in this passage are those at the beginning of verse 21: “and they have been told about you.” Notice, first, that the source of the information remains anonymous. That makes it hear-say and also makes it impossible for Paul to respond to it. There’s no way to answer a charge when you don’t know who is making it. That’s why, of course, in our system of jurisprudence a defendant is entitled to know who his accusers are.
Secondly, the information is not accurate and constitutes false accusations against Paul. He never taught Jewish converts to turn their back on Moses, nor did he tell them to stop circumcising their children. All he said is that Moses couldn’t save them, and circumcision couldn’t save their children. It is true that the Elders are careful not to say that they believe these reports, but nevertheless by passing them on they are in some sense participating in the false accusations.
Unfortunately, it is not that uncommon to hear Christian people pass on hearsay. “People are saying such-and-such about you.” Or, “A number of people are disappointed in how you’re handling such-and-such.” Whenever I hear that I respond with a simple answer, “Who are the people?” Usually I get an answer like this: “Well, I can’t tell you. The persons I talked with don’t want me to divulge their names.” And my response is, “If they have something to say about me or about my leadership, why don’t they come and say it to me, and (more importantly) why didn’t you tell them to come and say it to me instead of telling you about it?”
Well, there’s a fairly simple reason why most people won’t divulge their sources–it’s because the information is not accurate in the first place or because the person reporting it has distorted it in the process and is afraid to have you go and check it out for fear that their distortion will be discovered.
I think it’s time for Christian people to put a stop to hearsay. Nine times out of ten it constitutes false accusation.
There is another, less subtle, method of false accusation that Paul suffered and that is …
Downright distortion of the truth (21:28). In verse 28 we find the Jews from Asia starting a riot against Paul in the temple area. They say, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people, and the Law, and this place.” They don’t even try to hide behind unidentified sources; they just tell an absolute falsehood. Paul had never spoken against the Jewish people, against the Law of Moses, or against the temple. The fact of the matter is he loved his people so much that in the book of Romans he declared that he was willing to go to hell if all his fellow-countrymen could be saved. He honored the Law of Moses but simply taught that it was not a way of salvation nor, since the death of Christ, was it a required rulebook for the believer’s life.
I think I have some appreciation for the false accusations Paul endured through distortion of his teaching. I remember once when I was a professor at a Christian college that I was teaching in a New Testament class that wine was not inherently evil, otherwise Jesus would never have turned water into wine. It is evil when people use it for evil purposes and allow it to control them. We studied the term for wine, oinos in Greek, showing that it really does refer to fermented wine, and not just to grape juice, as some would teach.
The next day in chapel the college president, who was quite legalistic and didn’t like me at all, addressed the students concerning a faculty member who was “advocating social drinking among the students.” He knew I had done no such thing. He deliberately distorted the truth and it made me very angry. (We’ll be talking about responses to false accusations in a few minutes).
Now in that same verse we find a third way that false accusations sometimes come.
Unwarranted assumptions (21:28-29). The Jews continue their tirade against Paul, “‘And besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.’ For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.” There is no evidence whatever that Paul took an uncircumcised Gentile into the Temple, which would have been very offensive to the Jews. It was simply an unwarranted assumption. Paul was seen with a Greek in the city and Paul was seen in the Temple, therefore, they assumed, Paul must have brought the Greek into the Temple.
So often we are guilty of making assumptions about other people’s motives or actions. Even when the circumstantial evidence is very strong, it is incumbent upon us to check it out before we make accusations. A friend of mine called this behavior “assumicide.”
In verse 38 we find a fourth way in which Paul suffered false accusation.
Mistaken identity (38). The Jews in Jerusalem tried to lynch Paul, but a Roman commander, along with a number of soldiers, succeeded in rescuing him. He actually had to be carried into the barracks by the soldiers to keep the mob from tearing him limb from limb. Paul asked the commander if he could speak with him and the commander was quite surprised that Paul spoke Greek. In verse 38 he responds, “Then you are not the Egyyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the 4,000 men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” The Assassins were a band of terrorists who hid small daggers in their robes and when crowds gathered, they secretly stabbed political opponents and then faded away. The Romans had been told Paul was the leader of this group.
Mistaken identity can be a very serious source of false accusation. Several years ago there was a Catholic priest in New York City, if my memory serves me correctly, who was convicted of a felony and put into prison. He vigorously proclaimed his innocence, but there were several eyewitnesses who testified that he was the criminal. He spent many months there before the real perpetrator of the crime was caught and it was discovered that he bore a remarkable resemblance to the priest. He said afterwards that the hardest thing about the whole affair was to have friends and parishioners he had trusted and ministered to turn against him and treat him as a traitor. Paul knew something of that pain and perhaps there are those here this morning who have suffered similarly.
We have by no means exhausted the sources of false accusation, but we have seen in this chapter at least four ways they can come: hearsay, downright distortion, unwarranted assumptions, and mistaken identity.
Now I want us to see think about our responses when false accusations come. First, we will consider some ineffective ways of dealing with them and then we will look at some positive ways.
Ineffective ways of dealing with false accusation
Appeasement (21:23-26). If you go back to the first scene we examined, namely the Elders of the Church in Jerusalem presenting Paul with hearsay, you will remember that the solution they offered was for Paul to prove his orthodoxy by participating in a Jewish vow. “We have four men,” they said, “who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses in order that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.” Verse 26 indicates that he did so.
The details of this vow are unknown; it can only be surmised as to what Paul agreed to do. Evidently the four men had taken a Nazirite vow, part of which involved agreeing not to cut one’s hair for a specified length of time. At the conclusion of their vow some costly sacrifices were required of each man. They were evidently too poor to pay for the sacrifices, so Paul was asked to underwrite their expenses and thereby display his sympathy with the zealots for the Law.
Now there is much debate among New Testament scholars as to whether Paul was right or wrong in agreeing with the Elders to take this vow. But two things are clear: (1) he didn’t do it out of personal conviction; rather he did it to appease the legalistic Jewish Christians, and (2) it didn’t work.
The fact is that appeasement rarely solves anything when dealing with false accusers. As a matter of fact, for the most part it plays right into their hands, for they interpret it as an admission of guilt and an indication that the accused agrees with their assessment of his character or his actions.
Again, I refer to a rather painful experience in my own life when I was teaching. The new college president I spoke of earlier came in with a goal of cleaning house of all the “liberals” on the faculty, which is almost humorous since most of these professors were graduates of Dallas Seminary. Compared to him, however, Bob Jones himself was a flaming liberal. Be that as it may, I remember the first or second faculty meeting when he came with a statement for each faculty member to sign. It said, and I have a copy here with me,
“We believe that the speaking in tongues produced by the Holy Spirit ceased with the Apostles who ministered during the first century of the Christian era …. We believe that there has been no tongues-speaking produced by the Holy Spirit since that time …. We believe that this modern phenomenon is a psychological experience expressed through the human spirit of both saved and unsaved alike, which meets emotional needs of people who are reacting to dead orthodoxy and empty ritualism in the churches, and who are longing, perhaps unwittingly, for an existential religion of feeling rather than of faith.”
We were asked to either sign that statement without mental reservation or our contracts would not be renewed. Now, mind you, none of the professors had ever spoken in tongues and none were advocating tongues, and there had never been a tongues-speaking problem in the school. Nevertheless, the statement that we were given to sign violated our biblical convictions. A few of my colleagues said to themselves, “I don’t like the statement, but I have a family to feed, and since I’m not personally involved in the controversy, I guess I’ll go ahead and sign it.” In other words, they tried the route of appeasement.
A number of us refused and lost our jobs at the end of that school year. It was a terribly painful experience, but I have often thought it must have been even more painful for those who signed, for they soon discovered that appeasement on that issue only encouraged other demands on their consciences. At the end of one more year all but two of them had been fired or had quit.
Friends I believe the Scriptures teach that we should limit our Christian freedom out of love for weaker brothers, but that is a very different thing from trying to appease false accusers. It rarely accomplishes anything positive.
Now an opposite but equally ineffective way in which Paul tried to deal with false accusations was with anger.
Anger (23:1-5). For this we have to turn over to the first part of chapter 23. The intervening chapter contains Paul’s personal defense before the Jews, a subsequent second effort to murder him, and his rearrest by the Romans. This time the Romans, desiring to know why the Jews hated him so, brought him before the Sanhedrin. I begin reading in 23:1: “And Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, ‘Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.’ And the high priest Ananias commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, ‘God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! And do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?’”
Now I can understand Paul’s angry reaction. In fact, my gut level response to this scene is to say, “Right on, Paul, you showed him!” But I do not think that is a very spiritual response. In fact, the next verse says, “But the bystanders said, ‘Do you revile God’s high priest?” And Paul said, “I was not aware, brethren, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.'” In other words, the Apostle had to apologize because rulers and authorities, whether in government or in the church, are to be shown respect even when they are not respectable.
Angry reactions rarely serve as an effective way of dealing with false accusations or mistreatment of any kind. It is, of course, possible to “be angry and sin not.” (Eph. 4:26). It was Aristotle who said, “Anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time and in the right way—that is not easy.” Paul’s anger caused him to lose his head for a moment and respond wrongly.
Another way of dealing with false accusations is with bitterness.
Politicking (23:6ff). In 23:6 we are told that when Paul perceived that the Council was split between Pharisees and Sadducees, he mentioned that he was a Pharisee and then brought up the resurrection, knowing that the Sadducees didn’t believe in resurrection. This stirred up a near riot, almost resulting in Paul’s dismemberment.
I believe Paul purposely stirred up this controversy. In fact, in 24:20ff he virtually admits that it was a mistake, as he challenges Governor Felix to “have these men themselves declare what violation they discovered when I stood before the Council, 21 other than in regard to this one declaration which I shouted while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today!’” Political maneuvering is not the best way to deal with false accusations. Nor is …
Bitterness (Hebrews 12:15). I see no evidence of this in Paul’s life, but I mention it because it is such a common reaction to false accusations. We feel like we have been mistreated, but since anger or violence are not socially acceptable responses, we keep it inside and stew over it and become bitter. The Word of God warns against the results of bitterness in our lives. In Hebrews 12:15 the biblical writer exhorts us, “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it, many be defiled.” The problem with bitterness is that it rarely hurts the person who is the focus of the bitterness. But it greatly hurts the one who is bitter, as well as his family, as well as his church. It can destroy a person physically, emotionally and psychologically.
I am ashamed to admit that there was a time when I had a great deal of bitterness in my heart toward the college president I spoke of earlier. But eventually I came to realize that my being bitter toward him was, in effect, committing emotional suicide. So I surrendered the matter to the Lord, quit lying awake at night thinking about how to get even, and began to learn the personal lessons God was trying to teach me through it all.
I don’t want to give the impression that Paul really blew it in the way he handled the pressures of false accusation. He may have made a couple of mistakes, but he also did some things right that I believe we can imitate.
Positive ways of dealing with false accusations.
Personal witness to the accusers (22:1ff). When we are falsely accused it is always appropriate to give an honest account of our actions and motives and a witness of how God has worked in our lives. Paul does that on at least five different occasions during his trials in Jerusalem and Caesarea. And of course, he does so later in Rome as well. His own troubles were not viewed by him as a sign that God had abandoned him, but rather as an opportunity to share his faith with his accusers and detractors. The fact is that one of the most effective means of preaching the Gospel is to show unbelievers that you can handle persecution with a Christian spirit.
Simple acts of self-preservation (22:25, 23:17). I do not believe God requires us to always accept everything people dish out with a smile on our face and a “God bless you” on our lips. Paul certainly didn’t, nor did Jesus. Look first at 22:25. Paul has just been rearrested by the Roman soldiers after giving his defense. The commander orders him to be tortured to find out the reason why the Jews were trying to kill him. Torture was the accepted means of interrogating a prisoner in those days, but Paul didn’t meekly accept it. Verse 25 says, “And when they stretched him out with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, ‘Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?'”
In responding this way Paul followed precedent established by Jesus Himself. In John 18 we read the account of the high priest ordering his officers to strike Jesus during His trial, challenging Him, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?” And Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?” Now Jesus, of course, could have used His divine power to turn the high priest into a pillar of salt, but He did not do so. Instead, He simply challenged the mistreatment in a quiet but forceful way.
Paul did the same. In other words, he was not completely passive, saying to himself, “I don’t need life insurance and I don’t wear seat belts because God is in control and when my card comes up, I’m dead meat anyway.” On the contrary he believed that simple acts of self-preservation are quite appropriate, though going on the offensive against one’s enemies would not be.
Closely related to the issue of self-preservation is another way of dealing with false accusation that we see Paul using in 25:11-12.
Exercise of one’s rights without motives of revenge or greed (25:11-12). In chapter 25 Paul is facing his second to last trial in Caesarea, the one before Governor Festus. Paul adequately defended himself, but Festus wanted to gain favor with the Jews and so he asked Paul if he was willing to go up to Jerusalem once again and stand trial there on the charges. Paul knew that to do so would be committing virtual suicide, so he responded in verse 10: “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. If then I am a wrongdoer, and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” Then when Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.” And Paul was on his way to Rome.
Here we find Paul making use of the Roman system of justice to protect himself and his rights. This is something that I believe Christians have a right to do, within certain limits. The New Testament makes it clear that we are not to go to court against another Christian. It also makes it clear that we are not to sue someone out of a motive of revenge, for “vengeance is Mine,” declares the Lord. Greed also is an inexcusable motive for appealing to the justice system, but a motive that is evident in the vast majority of lawsuits that are filed today. A Christian should not be party to such things.
But a Christian is not required to be totally passive in the face of false accusations or violation of his rights. He is permitted to appeal to the courts to preserve his rights.
Conclusion: I want to share with you a way to deal with false accusations that is even better than the positive ways Paul employed. Turn with me to 1 Peter 2:18-23 and let’s read this amazing passage:
“ Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are harsh. 19 For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person endures grief when suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
21 For you have been called for this purpose, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you would follow in His steps, 22 He who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; 23 and while being abusively insulted, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.”
I see three ways here in which Jesus dealt with His false accusers. First, He refused to respond in kind. It is our tendency to practice one-ups-man-ship when it comes to accusations. Jesus refused to descend to the level of his accusers, even though He knew their hearts thoroughly and could have divulged secrets in their lives that would probably have cost every one of them his job.
Second, He refused to use His considerable power against them. Though He could have called ten thousand angels to wipe His accusers off the face of the earth, He never even threatened them. Those of us who have some measure of authority are tempted at times to use our positions to silence our critics. A boss may tell his employee, “One more negative word about me out of you and you can hit the streets.” Jesus would never employ such intimidation.
And finally, and most importantly, Jesus continually submitted His situation to the Judge. It is absolutely crucial that we recognize that the injustices we suffer do not constitute the last chapter of the book. There is a Judge, namely Almighty God. And that Judge judges with absolute righteousness. No hidden action or motive will remain unrevealed. No injustice suffered by His children will go unheeded. No biblical response will go unrewarded.
But such an attitude calls for a constant surrendering of our lives to His care. The tense used at the end of verse 23 is a continual present: Jesus kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. One surrender will not do it for the rest of one’s life. This is a daily thing.
I close with the next verse in 1 Peter 2: “And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His wounds you were healed.” Do you need spiritual healing today? It comes through the example of Christ for those who are already believers. But it must come through the cross of Christ for those who have never trusted Christ as personal Savior.
Tags:
Appeasement
Anger
Bitterness