Have you ever been falsely accused and felt you had no power to deal with the situation because the accusers did not want to hear the truth? How do you respond when this happens?
The natural thing is to get angry and push back. Sometimes that natural response can have serious consequences, especially if the accuser is someone in power over you. Of course, the right thing to do is to go to the person who has accused you and try to reconcile. But reconciliation takes two and the other person must be willing to listen and take responsibility for his or her part – the accusation. In real life, this doesn’t usually happen because accusers are usually people of great insecurity who lack trust and compassion, and are unable to have an honest conversation. Accusations fly when someone feels threatened and doesn’t have the leadership skills to go to the person and check things out before coming to a conclusion.
Barbara Underwood is making false claims against the Mayor for something he did NOT do. How do we know this? Because there is absolutely no evidence connecting the Mayor to this Facebook page in which the alleged JibJab movie appeared. If there wasn’t an election going on, these accusations would seem to be ludicrous. The Mayor just doesn’t strike one as a person that would be into making little music videos with characters with big heads. This is a direct attack on his character, from a fellow council member making things up in her head to hurt the Mayor. Isn’t this a violation of the new ethics code?
Look, it’s obvious this has been blown way out of proportion, and whoever did this probably wasn’t intentionally creating whatever sexual inappropriateness Barbara Underwood is imagining. Grownups are secure enough to laugh at themselves once in a while. Barbara isn’t the only one on the council that has questionable behavior. Steve Smith teased Suzy Tubbs-Avakian for being in a wheelchair, and posts unsubstantiated comments on Facebook attacking the integrity of the Mayor.
The psalmist, David, speaks to this in Psalms 3, 4 & 5. He begins by stating that there are many who rise up against him. But his response is to remember that the Lord is a shield for him. The Lord hears David’s cries for help and listens. First response: Cry out to the Lord. He hears you in your distress. You are not alone and He is aware of what is happening. The Lord will hear when I call on Him -Psalm 4:3
God assures us that if our attitude is right, He will protect us if we put our trust in Him. He is our security! And in Psalm 5, David reminds us that he will destroy those who speak falsehoods (verse 6). In our culture of accusation, offense and falsehoods, remember the right response of faith. Your shield is no man, but God.
“We may believe they are wrong but not necessarily evil; they believe we are not only wrong but evil – Are they Justified?” ★★★★
