Are You a Victim?

The actual source of the word victim appears to be unknown, but in its original use in the English language, it pointed to a living creature that was to be sacrificed and offered to a deity. The word’s usage was broadened in the mid-1600s to include one who is hurt, tortured, or killed by another. It appears to have been broadened again in the early to mid-1700s to include the idea of one being oppressed by some power or situation. It is likely that none of these historical uses took into consideration the broadness of the word’s assignment today. To a great degree, the continual lowering of the standard required to obtain victim status has come in conjunction with its increasing popularity to be identified as such.

All conditions and definitions considered, the greatest victim to ever live was never in His lifetime identified as such, nor did He ever take up the title for Himself. If we add to that the fact that we often incorporate into our understanding of victimhood that the one victimized is, at best, INNOCENT and, at worst, UNDESERVING, we might well say that those attributes can and have only fully applied to one—the Lord Jesus Christ. That being said, if one truly wants to know how to define victimhood or how to behave should one be victimized, he would look no further than the Lord.

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21)

Jesus was not blindsided, but knew He would be victimized, how it would happen, and at whose hands it would take place before any of it transpired. Had Jesus been like the modern victim (most of whom are falsely so-called), He would have never become the victim. He would have become so enthralled with His victimhood that it would have consumed His thoughts, teachings, and interactions with others. In turn, He would have so riled up His followers that they would have never let Him go to the cross.

“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” (Matthew 16:21-23)

Had Jesus taken the path of the modern victim, He would have become so wrapped up in self that He would have been no good to others. There is no doubt that some of the very people standing and crying, “Crucify him,” at the end were among those He had fed, healed, and taught during His earthly ministry. Had Jesus been the typical “victim,” the men calling for His death in the end would have starved and died of all manner of diseases long before they could call for His death. So profound is the thought that Jesus knew when He healed or fed a man that that man would later cry, “Crucify.” Yet, He refused to allow the fact that they would later victimize Him to alter what He did. What a great Saviour!

The sad truth is that any type of abuse you could imagine is an abuse that Christ endured. He could have cried, “Foul,” on systemic abuse when trials were rigged against Him and the verdict of guilty was decided before He was ever heard or questioned (John 18:38-40). He could have cried, “Foul,” on spiritual abuse because He suffered His death at the request and hands of religious leaders (Matthew 26:3-4). He could have cried, “Foul,” on physical abuse as He was so severely beaten that one could count all His bones (Psalm 22:12-18). He could have cried, “Foul,” on mental abuse as He was taunted, mocked, and ridiculed while He hung and died for all men to see (Luke 23:35-37).

The temptation of a victim, especially that of one who is falsely called a victim, is to exaggerate the details to validate the claim and status of victimhood. Yet, no matter how badly the Lord Jesus would have described the way men would treat Him, it would have been an understatement. However, in the truest state of victimhood, Christ did it without a swell of community and family support. A march against systemic injustice could have stopped His victimization, but the truth is that few, if any, would have marched with Him. A newspaper write-up about false imprisonments might have helped, but nobody really cared; and had Christ’s disciples desired to pen such a write-up, He would have discouraged them from doing so. A support group, website, or social media site about the spiritual abuse He would receive might have alerted some of the common people to the evils of the religious leaders of the day, but the Son of God’s purpose was not to destroy those who sought to destroy Him, but save them. Truthfully, if Christ had been more vocal about His victimization among His faithful followers, He could have surely changed the course and avoided the outcome.

All in all, the Lord spoke very little of His suffering. He spoke very little of how it would happen, when it would happen, and why it would happen. When He did speak of it, His disciples did not even seem to understand (Mark 8:31-32; Mark 9:31-32). When it finally clicked with Peter, he pulled sword from sheath to cut off a man’s ear, and the Saviour rebuked Peter for doing so and healed the wounded man (Matthew 26:50-53). Even during the height of His victimization, Christ called upon His Father to forgive (Luke 23:34). To the modern victim expert, Jesus knew very little about victimhood. The reality is that Christ was victimhood’s greatest partaker and example.

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5)

In short, Jesus, the greatest victim ever, did not dwell upon His victimization. If ever there was an unjust treatment at the hands of bad people, it was He. If ever there was a man who in no way deserved what He got, it was He. Yet, He did not make it His mission to get sympathy or draw attention to how He would be treated. Even after His death and resurrection, it was impressed upon Christ’s apostles, not to slander the religious leaders, but to proclaim His victory and the hope He had to offer by trusting in Him. Bluntly stated, Christ did not focus upon victimhood when it was looming over His head and He did not remain in victimhood after it was past. He moved on!

Before we assume that the expectation of such behaviour is limited to Jesus and that modern society bears no responsibility or ability to mimic the Lord’s response, we should consider the Lord’s admonition to His followers. According to 1 Peter 2:21, we are called to this same conduct, “because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” In fact, the Lord’s response—“Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:23)—is to be our response.

Christ committed Himself to the Father knowing that the Father would execute judgment. It was in this spirit that Christ informed Peter that He could have called twelve legions of angels and put a stop to it all (Matthew 26:53). Instead, He trusted God and moved on. There is no doubt that many of those who victimized Christ (others believed on the Lord and were saved) have already met their just judgment in hell and will continue it for eternity in the lake of fire, but Christ simply committed Himself to the One who would do the judging. This was the very advice believers received when Paul wrote,

“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” (Romans 12:19)

While any of us can only truly speak for the history we have experienced in our short time on this earth, this seems to have been the way the previous generations dealt with difficulties endured. They faced their hardships, dealt with their situations, oftentimes only between themselves and God, and moved on. They did not desire to be known as or seen as victims. They rarely spoke of their misfortunes, but of their fortunes. They took their heartaches to God and their blessings to others. They refused to be defined by the bad things that had happened unto them.

Somewhere along the way, the title “Victim” became desirable and one with which individuals longed to be tagged. When it did, victimhood ceased to be a town through which one passed in years past, but the permanent dwelling place in which one lives. Instead of being something that happened to a person, it became an ever-present, always occurring event. Rather than men doing all that they could do to be sure the time of suffering did not define their lives, the mistreatment (or supposed mistreatment) became a badge of honour and they sought to become its spokesperson or social justice warrior.

Let’s be crystal clear, if a crime has been committed against you or your family, you should report it to the proper authorities and pray for and pursue swift and sure justice. This is God’s way (Romans 13:3-4)! However, the love of victimhood (outside of the previous statement) is both unhealthy and sinful. Years ago this would have been both common knowledge and common practice, but no longer. Before you dismiss the notion that men today love victimhood, consider that every time you and I rant against a restaurant who served a bad meal, or a car dealership who sold a bad car, or a school teacher who gave a bad grade, or a beautician who gave a bad haircut, or a church who was not nice, or a husband who forgot a birthday, or a wife who could not cook and clean, the rant is intended to confirm that you or I have been victimized by somebody. The evidence that victimhood is now on steroids is obvious by the social justice warrior mentality that the restaurant, car dealership, school teacher, beautician, church, husband, or wife must now be shut down, maligned, slandered, and ultimately destroyed because somebody was wronged. This would be bad enough if all accusations were true, but they are not.

Sadly, our idolization of victimization has grown to such a climax that men now fabricate atrocities in order to obtain the esteemed victimhood. Many others, while not entirely fabricated, include exaggerated details of ill-treatment in hopes of establishing one’s self as the elite status of victim. Whether one must make up stories of being abused physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, or magnify mild mistreatment, it is a small price to pay. Furthermore, the ends justify the means and it is deemed acceptable to ruin the lives of others who may or may not have mistreated you, if it means your cause is brought to the forefront and the greater evil of abuse is exposed. After all, the path to social justice warrior only goes through victimhood. Therefore, the desire to become a voice for the voiceless or spokesman (excuse me, spokesperson) or hero requires that one first be victimized.

Historically, there would have been fear of being exposed as a fraud or exaggerative and, therefore, overly dramatic, but no longer. While the principle of American exceptionalism once stood as “innocent until proven guilty,” the social justice warriors of our day have transformed the standard to be “accused and therefore guilty in some form or fashion.” Because of this, one need only to accuse someone of something; stand up against it; speak truth to power; tell only the facts that fit your perception, narrative, and agenda; receive the support of those who agree that you were abused; and let the chips fall where they may.

Does the accusation of abuse have to be true? Of course not. Even if, by rare chance, somebody checks into all the details and finds that somebody has been wrongfully accused or slandered, the individual accused will have already been tried in the court of public opinion and found guilty. The accuser will have already been tried in the court of public opinion, hailed as a victim, and lauded as a hero for speaking out. It is a win-win situation and will only grow worse so long as we continue as a society to accept the new normal.

If all of today’s outlets were available to those who lived in Bible times, things surely would have been different. Nehemiah, the great wall builder, would have been deemed a xenophobe and forever known as a physical abuser when he contended with the Jews, “cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair” for allowing marriage with people from other nations (Nehemiah 13:25). Paul, the great apostle, would have been slandered as a homophobe when he identified sodomy as “vile affections” and “unseemly” and suggested that those who took part in it had been given over to “a reprobate mind” (Romans 1:26-28). While we are speaking of the apostle Paul, he was certainly guilty, according to modern perception, of spiritual abuse when he spoke of delivering “Hymenaeus and Alexander…unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme” (1 Timothy 1:20). Lest we forget, the Lord Jesus Christ would be deemed the posterchild of toxic masculinity.

In other words, the modern “everybody is a victim movement” is anti-God and anti-Bible. Apart from Jesus Christ, it may be that there was no greater victim in the Bible than Joseph. He was hated of his brethren because he was loved of his father (Genesis 37:4) and was thrown into a pit and eventually sold into slavery by them (Genesis 37:23-28). If that were not enough, when he rose to prominence as a slave in an Egyptian household, the owner’s wife made a pass at him and falsely accused him of sexual assault for which he was imprisoned and forgotten (Genesis 39:1-20). Maybe this was the origin of the Me Too (or #metoo) movement where a man accused is automatically guilty without being granted the privilege of telling his side of the story. After a few more setbacks, Joseph actually wound up as the second in command in Egypt, only behind Pharaoh in authority (Genesis 41:33-45). Joseph would certainly qualify as a victim and yet he did not seek to victimize as a result of being a victim. Instead, he forgave those who mistreated him and boldly told them, “ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20).

There can be no doubt that Joseph’s handling of his victimization is an example for us all. All things considered, there are really only two scenarios under which men can suffer (deservedly and undeservedly) and both call for a different response than what is being promoted in the godless society in which we live. According to scripture, being a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a busybody brings consequences; and depending upon the level of the crime and the associating punishment, the suffering may well be just and deserved (1 Peter 4:15). Nowhere in that description does the Bible teach that the one suffering under such conditions should go and victimize others. On the flipside of this, there are some who are victimized though doing right (1 Peter 4:12-14). To them, God said that they ought to rejoice and be happy because of the fellowship it brings now and the rewards it will yield in the future. Certainly, we cannot read into this that the victim is to respond by victimizing others.

The sad and confusing truth is that the greatest victimizers are often those who have been victimized and yet have handled their victimization in an ungodly manner. Instead of forgiving the offender and enjoying the peace of God and fellowship with God that such victory brings, they hold a grudge and grow bitter. Either in the immediate or sometime down the road in life, something comes up that stirs the hurt and anger in the victim that already existed and the one who was once victimized now victimizes. The problem? The one who is usually victimized at this point is not the one responsible for the hurt and pain that exists in the one who was hurt in years gone by. So the cycle continues.

This cycle only ends when one does as Jesus or Joseph did and refuses to dwell upon what was done, forgives, and moves on. This response frees from the bondage of victimhood and truly sets free—something that does not fit with the narrative of embracing victimhood. Yet, it is the responsibility of God’s men to teach people these truths. In doing so, we will be accused of all manner of things by some of the very people we are trying to free, but the truth still must be told.

“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” (2 Timothy 2:24-26)

The country, the community, the church, and the family cannot afford for men of God to ignore this pandemic. Eventually, everybody will be victimized and become the victimizer of someone else. The only answer is to deal with the problem, forgive, and move on! All of this is easier said than done, but God helped people to do just that in the past and He will help you to do the same now. Have you been hurt? Stop the cycle! Do you crave the attention that comes with being a “victim”? Find that attention through a personal walk with the Lord. Are you currently allowing your hurt to hurt others? Stop! Are you bitter from things in your past and transferring your vengeance upon someone else who you deem has done you unjustly? Forgive those who hurt you in the past and stop letting them continue to hold power over your life and cause you to destroy other good people. Be sure, the judgment seat of Christ will make all wrongs right for the believer.

Pastor Andrew Ray