Life isn't fair, continued

Yesterday, we advanced the notion that there were two questions we should ask ourselves when we are being treated unfairly -- these questions were to help guide us as we make a strategy on how to respond.
We said that first, we needed to determine if the person treating us unfairly was in authority over us, and second, we needed to discern if our attitudes and motives were in line with the Word. In other words, are we in submission to our Lord, or are we just all wrought up and reacting selfishly?

I said yesterday that I DON'T think believers are always to be doormats. I think many people take an overly-simplistic view that Christians must always endure mistreatment in silence. These folks truly think that self-defense is always wrong! But Jesus Himself did not do this, nor did the apostle Paul, who wrote under God's inspiration.
I always like to give examples so that y'all know where I'm coming from, so here goes: In John 8, the Jews attacked Jesus' character and His authority. They said that He was not only bearing false witness (lying) about Himself, but that He was also illegitimately born. Did He silently endure the attack? Nope! My grandma would say that He was on them like a duck on a June bug.....He defended Himself as being sent from God, and He attacked his critics by saying they were "of their father" the devil!
Passive?
Nope.
Silent?
Uh, no.
Check out another example, this time in Matthew 23: Jesus lambasted the Pharisees for their hypocrisy; again, He was not silent, but defended Himself.
When Paul was under attack for both his character and his ministry, he wrote defenses in several of his letters -- II Corinthians, Galatians, and others come to mind. Paul put his critics down in a strong (and occasionally sarcastic) manner. He gave solid, reasoned responses to unfair treatment.

Now, here is where some folks get confused. How can we balance these two things? On the one hand, Jesus and Paul give us super examples of vigorous self-defense, and on the other hand, Peter is talking about silent submission! That's where those questions come in.....we need to think about these things before we decide whether to defend ourselves or to silently endure the reproach.  Remember that first question? Are we under the authority of the one who is attacking?  OK, then we need to examine ourselves; we need to look at our behavior and our attitudes to see if we are doing something to provoke the attack. It may be that we've really done something incorrectly: we need the discipline, or we may need to ask help with something we overlooked. We may need to examine our motivation and explain it if necessary. However, if we conclude that our superior is simply out to get us because of our faith, then we'll need to bear up patiently for the Lord's sake.

Here is another concept that we should prayerfully consider: is God's truth being called into question? Is He being ridiculed? In that case, we should clearly (but respectfully) defend the truth. If we think back to Jesus' fake trial before the Sanhedrin, He remained silent until the high priest said this:

But Jesus remained silent.The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God:Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”64 “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 26:63-64)      

There was no mistaking His intent there. He remained silent until He could no longer, and then He gave a ringing defense of the truth of God.

Lastly, we should prayerfully consider our witness to outsiders. To unbelievers. If we are being falsely attacked on the job or elsewhere, we need to ask ourselves how we can best be a witness for Jesus. It may be that a quiet but confident answer is the most effective response. But if they already know where we stand, it may be that quiet submission is more effective. You see, if we are under the authority of the unfair person, we can appeal with a quiet and reasonable attitude. That falls under the category of biblical strategies. But if the appeal fails, we must submit.
Does that mean that we must remain under unjust treatment for the rest of our career, or the rest of our lives? Nope! There is a time for getting out from under corrupt authority. There is a time for moving from a poor employer. But if we move too quickly we may miss out on a couple of things!

First, we may miss what God is seeking to do for us in that difficult situation. He may want to teach us some hard lessons of being like Christ.
Second, He may want to bear witness through us. There are always folks who watch us, as believers, whether they are in the family of faith or not. They consider and gauge our actions and reactions.
If we are defiant, or too quick to move, we may miss out on both of these "golden" opportunities!