False Accusation
There is a venerable tradition in our country of innocent until proven guilty. That doesn’t stop people from accusing, nor jumping to conclusions. As Americans, we have a system that is designed to protect us against false accusations. As Christians, there is no protection.
IN THOSE DAYS, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to welcome Festus. And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man left prisoner by Felix; and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews gave information about him, asking for sentence against him. I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up any one before the accused met the accusers face to face, and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him. When therefore they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought in. When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed; but they had certain points of dispute with him about their own superstition and about one Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.”
Acts 25:13-19
Saint Paul enjoyed the same protections from the Roman society that we have as Americans, but that didn’t stop his accusers. They accused Him of claiming that Jesus was alive. If the king had investigated Saint Paul’s claim, he would have discovered the truth. Jesus is alive.
By the time Saint Paul was on trial, there were thousands of witnesses that could have verified Jesus was alive. Jesus appeared to many in public and in private. Still, Paul was on trial and sent to Rome where he was put in prison.
The story hasn’t changed much in the past two thousand years. Christians are still accused of crimes ‘merely’ for believing that Jesus is alive. Claims of ‘false information’ are used when people aren’t comfortable. Truth no longer matters when it comes to accusing Christians.
The difficulty for Christians today isn’t that we believe what others do not believe. The problem comes when our beliefs are expected to remain private. We are told not to allow our beliefs to influence our actions. Our system does not protect against this type of accusation.
There was no crime committed by Saint Paul other than he believed in the ‘wrong’ god. Even the king admitted it wasn’t a crime from a Roman legal point of view. We should be inspired by what Saint Paul had to endure. Never once did he back away from his belief.
Have courage! Be willing to stand up for what you believe, even if it means losing a job or facing social exile. It happened to Saint Paul and countless other saints. It happened to Christ. It WILL happen to us. Is the servant greater than the master? (see John 15.20)
The life of the Church will help when the persecution comes. A life of prayer and fasting will prepare us for the pressure that will come against the Church. Even if the persecution isn’t legal, it will be social. Even if it isn’t systemic, it will be personal. The accusations might be false, but the will come.
