I John 1:22, “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” Every believer must be prepared for the day when they are accused of being a false teacher or a cult leader. It has happened to me. I have started nearly every conference with the admonition that everything I say is not true. I am a man in process and make mistakes. However, the one thing I always will say in a conference that is truth is that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. As Ray says, “I know what I am saying, but I am never sure of what people are hearing.” Sometimes I say the wrong thing, sometimes I am wrong, and other times I am misunderstood. However, there are those with an agenda to discredit the message of abiding in Christ moment by moment by discrediting me. Each word written or uttered is examined to confirm a pre-established bias. These believers, like Saul, want to stir up the crowd, have them lay their robes at their feet, and stone any who don’t agree with them 100%. They throw around words such as cult, false teacher, and heretic. Honestly, that is a bit harsh an assessment of one who teaches there is nothing but Jesus that matters. I have often said to those who are looking for something with which to discredit me that if they will simply sit down with me, I would give them a list. I have been negative, I have not always abided in Christ, I have walked in the flesh, I have judged, I have been bitter, I have not walked in love, and the list goes on. But then again, knowing my own frailty is why there is no record of my ever trying to get anyone to follow me. My emphasis is consistently to follow Jesus. Well, amen, false judgments must come, and some with a vengeance.

There is a purpose in being judged falsely.

When someone you love is falsely accused, just respond by talking about Jesus.

What am I to do? First, I must see God in it. David looked at the man on the hill cursing and spitting and refused to allow the man to be harmed, because he wondered if God had not allowed it for a purpose. There is a purpose in being judged falsely. Again, I want to be able to love enemies, but I don’t want any enemies. I want to learn to bless those that curse me without ever having to be cursed. I want to rise above distraction and follow Jesus, but I never want the distractions. Just as Judas delivered up Jesus, and from that treacherous act Life was given to man, so God sends us our own Judas, who in ignorance delivers us up in order that we might discover that the Jesus within is greater than the slander without. If I am not preaching Christ crucified, then in all honesty I want God to remove me from the lives of others. But if I am preaching Christ, I will let God deal with the detractor on the hill. Second, I cannot allow the judgments of the carnal to become my focus. This is the most demonic side of accusations, that a hitherto unknown person might actually steal our focus away from Jesus. In a worse case scenario, assuming what is being said is true, health would come from a glance back to Jesus, not a prolonged look at and dialogue with the detractor. Therefore, when I am attacked, don’t be surprised if I go silent and start talking all the more about Jesus. I don’t want to waste time defending myself. All that we have done at ALMI has been in the open. To win the alliance of an accuser is not a victory! By attacking me and making me his focus, the accuser proves that he doesn’t agree with the message of keeping our focus on Jesus. Third, this is where those who love me come in. They can help by not defending me to anyone. I am God’s servant, so send those who accuse to the Master of the servant. The servant is not greater than the Master; the Master is all that matters. We defend the preaching of Jesus, always. We defend the messenger, never. When we start defending someone we love, our flesh is stirred, our focus moves from Jesus, our peace departs, and our accuser has accomplished the goal of the Accuser of the Brethren. This is the most difficult thing for me; I can stand to be slandered, but I can’t stand seeing those I love slandered. It is important that we do not defend men, for it is always a trap the enemy has set. When someone you love is falsely accused, just respond by talking about Jesus. Our goal is Jesus. Remember, a detractor’s job is to detract you from Jesus to a lesser issue. Fourth and finally, I want to have compassion for those who make false judgments. I have done it myself. I have gotten everything wrong. Having this in my past, I can say with complete confidence that I would rather be the one being judged than the one doing the judging. The one being judged can come away sweet, but the one involved with judging will always go away depleted and under the judgment of God.