Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Guest (Male): Hello everybody, welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. This is the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren. Hey, we're so glad you're here with us today. We are continuing in a series called Talking About Stuff That Matters. Now in this series, Rick looks into the scriptures and he's unpacking what it means to live in community, have real conversation about what matters most, and face discouragement with courage and faith. It's honest, hopeful, so stay tuned. You won't want to miss a second. Well, I can't wait to hear what Rick has for us today. Here's part one of a message called When You're Harassed and Bullied.

Pastor Rick Warren: This weekend I want us to look at what God says about when you're harassed or bullied. When you're harassed or bullied. And I'd like you to raise your hand right now if you can remember a time in your life, either as a child or a teenager or an adult, when you felt bullied or harassed. Could I see your hands? Okay. Now I can't see you obviously, but I figured that. I figured that almost everybody I know has felt being harassed or bullied, either at school or in the neighborhood or in the office or on the sports field or unfortunately even at home sometimes. What does God have to say about bullying and harassment? That's what we're going to look at today.

Well, because everything on earth is broken by sin, including relationships, God tells us not to be surprised when people are mean or pushy or angry or controlling or manipulative. In fact, Jesus warned us to expect opposition and harassment in life. In John 16:33, I love this in the Message Translation, Jesus says, "I've told you all this so that in trusting me, you will be unshakable and at peace. In this godless world, you will experience difficulties, but take heart, I have conquered the world."

He said you're going to have trouble. You're going to experience difficulties. You're going to have harassment in your life. But take heart, I've conquered the world. Now God also warns us that as time goes on throughout history, he said things would get worse, not better. That people would actually become more uncivil, more unkind, more rude, more mean. 2 Timothy chapter 3 says this, verses 1-4 in the New Living Translation, "You should also know that in the last days, there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money."

Does that sound familiar? They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving. They will slander others. This is years before the internet. They will have no self-control. People will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends. They will be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and they will love pleasure rather than God.

You know friends, that sounds an awful lot like modern culture because civilization is losing its civility by the day. We're getting ruder, not more loving in the world. We're getting more unkind, not more kind. So I want to begin by defining bullying. Here's a definition: Bullying is any unwanted aggressive behavior where a person or group tries to exert power over somebody else. Any unwanted aggressive behavior where a person or group tries to exert power over somebody else. That's bullying.

Now bullying includes a lot of different things. It can be making threats, spreading rumors, attacking physically or verbally, harassing, excluding somebody from a group on purpose. That's a form of bullying. But bullying now doesn't just happen in person. Today, with texting and social media and being connected to video games, cyber bullies and cyber bullying take place everywhere. In previous generations, kids could actually escape bullies by leaving the playground. But today, the bullies can reach you through your phone or your iPad or your tablets or your video games. Literally, bullies are available to get in your face 24 hours a day because of technology.

People get harassed and bullied for all kinds of reasons. You can get bullied for your appearance. People just don't think you look right. You can be bullied for your abilities or your disabilities. You can be bullied for your accent. Somebody doesn't like the way you talk. You can be bullied for your race, for being poor or rich. You can be bullied for your gender. And you can be, of course, bullied for your faith. You can be bullied for being a Christian.

Now that last category, being bullied or harassed for being a follower of Jesus, that's been around for about 2,000 years. But it has been on a rapid increase in just the last decade. According to a 2019 World Watch List, there are still 150 countries in the world where Christians are severely persecuted for their faith. 150. Let me give you the most recent statistics: 245 million Christians live in the 50 worst persecuted countries. That means any of those 245 million Christians can face the threat of discrimination, interrogation, arrest, prison, refugee camps, torture, even death.

That's a quarter of a billion people just for being a Christian in those countries. One in nine Christians worldwide experiences severe persecution. In fact, this past year, 4,136 Christians were killed simply for being Christians. That's about 11 Christians a day. Now I'm not talking about wars. I'm saying just killed for being a Christian. 2,625 Christians were detained without trial, arrested, sentenced, and imprisoned in those 50 worst countries, along with who knows how many tens of thousands of others. Last year, 1,266 more churches were burned or destroyed somewhere around the world out of persecution.

Why am I telling you this? Well, because if I were to ask you to name the most persecuted group on the planet today, you would likely name the wrong group. It's Christians. You're likely surprised because it's the most ignored, most overlooked, and most underreported news in the world. There's a society called the International Society for Human Rights. It's not a Christian organization. It's a secular organization. And I read this this week in their report: "80% of all religious freedom violations in the world are directed against Christians."

Now of course that's just one kind of harassment, but it is real and it is painful. Jesus said this in John 15, verses 19 and 20: "The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don't. I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you. Remember, a servant is not greater than the master, and since they persecuted me," Jesus says, "naturally they will persecute you too." Remember, the world crucified Jesus. He was perfect. He had never sinned. He had done no harm to anybody. But the world crucified him. They would today, too.

The fact is evil people don't like to attack Christ directly, so they often attack those who follow him. Now you may be thinking, "But Rick, the people that I'm dealing with who are bullying me or harassing me at work or at school, they don't even know I'm a Christian." Well, that may be true. They may not know that you're a Christian at work or at school, but Satan knows. Satan knows that you're a Christian. Satan knows you love God. Satan knows you're a child of God. So he has targeted you.

And honestly, he doesn't care why or what reason people have to harass you, whether it's your race or your age or your gender or whatever. He just wants to make you miserable because you're a child of God. You're the enemy, and he has lost you, so he wants to hurt you. How does God want me to respond to the bullies and the cyber bullies and the harassers at school or at work or in society or online? Well, let me give you some scriptures and some points from God's word this weekend, okay?

Why don't you write these down? I'm going to give you seven ways to deal with bullying and harassment in your life. Number one, here's the first one, it's very important: Recognize the source behind the bully. Recognize the source behind the bully. The bully is not your real problem. The real problem is the source behind the bully, and the real source is a force. It's a spiritual force. It's called evil. The bully is just being used by Satan. All evil, all meanness, all hatred comes from Satan.

Now the people who are being hateful and who are being mean, they don't even recognize that they're just a pawn, that they're just a tool in the hand of Satan because they're spiritually blinded. But the Bible says this in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12: "We are not fighting against human beings, but against wicked spiritual forces." Did you hear that? The bully is not your real problem. The bully is being used. We are not fighting against human beings. We're fighting against spiritual wicked forces.

Satan can use anybody anyway if they don't know the Lord because they don't have God's Spirit in them. Now Satan wants to hurt God, but he can't. So he does the next best thing. You know what he does? He goes after God's children. The best way to hurt a parent is to hurt his child, and the child of God is the enemy of Satan. This is why prayer is such an important part of dealing with harassment at school or work or dealing with a bully at school or work, because we're not dealing with just human beings here. There's a spiritual force behind it all. You may not have the power to stop that bully, but God does. So first, recognize the source or the force behind the bully.

Number two, this is the second key antidote to dealing with harassment: Remember who you are. Remember who you are. What is your identity? You are a son or daughter of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You are a part of God's family. You were created in the image of God, and God loves you, and God made you for a purpose, and he has a plan for your life. You need to remember who you are. You're a child of God.

Why is that important? Because bullies can smell weakness and insecurity and low self-esteem a mile away. That's who they try to attack. Bullies don't ever go after confident or courageous or self-assured people. No, they look for someone they think is feeling down or unaccepted or weak or unsure. They want to pick off people when they're in their most vulnerable moments. That's why I started this series talking about your identity in Christ.

I said if you don't settle this issue, you'll be pressured by peer pressure at school or work. You'll be pressured by bullies at school or work. You'll be conformed to the world at school or work or anywhere else. You have to know your identity. Now you're not what other people say you are. They don't know. You're not even what you think you are. You are whom God says you are. You see, because God always speaks the truth, and it is the truth that sets us free. And it is the truth that gives us confidence. And it is the truth that makes us bold and courageous.

So if you haven't listened to that message, it's called "Don't Let Anybody Steal Your Identity" on who you are in Christ, go back to the beginning of this series and listen to it all over and over and over until you settle the issue of your identity and who you are in Jesus Christ. You're going to be easy pickings until you do know that for sure. God is your creator, Jesus died for you, the Holy Spirit lives in you. You have the Trinity behind you. What are you worried about with some measly little bully or harasser at school or at work or even in the neighborhood?

1 John 4:4 says this: "You, dear children, are from God and you have overcome the world." Why? "Because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." Yeah, Satan's trying to take you down, but the one who is in you, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. So what I'm saying in remembering your identity, remember what David remembered in Psalm 56, verse 3 and 4. I love this in the New Living Translation. He says, "When I'm afraid, I put my trust in you, oh God, and I praise your word." That's the Bible, God's word. "I trust in you God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?"

One plus God equals a majority. If God is on your side, it doesn't matter who's against you. If God is for us, who can be against us? So if you're being harassed or you're being bullied by anybody, I want to urge you to write down on some little 3x5 cards some Bible verses and some Bible promises that will encourage you and strengthen you, and learn those and memorize them. And when you're in a situation where you're being bullied, you silently start saying those verses to yourself.

Remind yourself of the promises of God. Remind yourself of the truth of God. Remind yourself who God says you are. It doesn't matter what the bully or the harasser says. They may say you're worthless, you're no good, you're whatever. They're wrong. They're liars. And the Bible says Satan is the father of all lies. So what we're saying here is you've got to first know who the source is, and then second, you've got to know who you are. Parents, one of your jobs is to teach your children their true identity in Christ so they can withstand bullies and harassment. They don't become people pleasers because they're God pleasers.

Now here's the third key when you're hit with a bully, when you're hit with a harasser: Refuse to retaliate. Refuse to retaliate. Because this messes up the whole situation that God wants to do. In Romans 12, verses 17 up to verse 19, God says this: "If someone has done you wrong, never pay back evil with evil." Okay, then you're no better than they are. "Instead, try to do what everyone considers to be good, what everybody would say that's the right thing to do. Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody."

Oh, that's one of the most difficult verses in the Bible. Do everything possible on your part to live at peace with everybody. "Never take revenge my friends, but instead, let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, I will avenge you and I will pay them back, says the Lord." Now I want you to notice a couple things about this verse. First, it says as much as it's possible with you, do it as far as possible, get along with everybody. I like that verse because it says as much as possible.

There are some people you just can't get along with. No matter what you do, they are unpleasable, they are impossible, they are hard to get along with, they are impossible to get along with. It says as much as it's possible on your side. That's admitting that there are some people in life you just can't get along with, so you've got to walk away. In that case, you just walk away. Well, I know you say, "Well, they've hurt me, they've bullied me, they've harassed me, and I want to show them up. I want to get even."

Well, you never get ahead, you're never going to get ahead of them if you're trying to get even with them. When you commit an offense against somebody, you take the initiative, you commit an offense against somebody, that puts you below them. When you get even with someone who's hurt you and you hurt them back, that just puts you even. You're no better than they are. But when you forgive them and you walk away, it puts you in the superior position above them and it positions you for all kinds of blessings.

You see, bullies want to hook you in a fight. They do it on cyber on the internet all the time. Trolls are out there trying to hook people, get their attention. They want your attention. What a bully cannot stand is for you to ignore them. What a bully can't stand is for you to walk away because they are starving for attention. Now this is true on the internet with cyber bullies. Don't engage them because you're just hooking into what they want.

You know, if you think about this, most of you know, you learned this as a kid growing up, that when you were teasing your brother or teasing your sister, that once they started reacting to you, you were in control of the situation. As long as they ignored you, as long as they didn't react, you were helpless. You couldn't get them, you couldn't engage them. But the moment you hook them, the moment they start reacting, you're now in control.

Have you ever thought about this? That anytime you say or even think "You make me so mad," you're admitting that you've given control of your emotions to somebody else. "You make me mad. I don't want to be mad, but you make me mad." You're making me mad, which means you have the power to control my emotions. Now you may not say "You make me mad," but you're thinking it. Or you may not say "You make me afraid." Sometimes a bully will make you afraid. But if you're thinking it, you are at that point admitting that they have power over your emotions. You don't want to do that. You don't want to give any bully or any harasser power over your emotions.

I want you to note there in that Romans 12 passage that God gives you a choice. You can either seek revenge yourself, or you can let God avenge you. He says it's your choice. You want to do it? Go ahead, be my guest. Seek revenge yourself. Or, he says, you can hold back, trust God, and let God avenge you. Who do you think can do a better job? Who do you think has more resources at taking a person down a notch or two who's been irritating and arrogant? You've got to just let it go. Refuse to retaliate.

Guest (Male): What a great message from Pastor Rick today. There's something I always take away from his message. Here's Rick to tell you how you can help support this ministry.

Pastor Rick Warren: Jesus told his disciples that they should live their lives according to five specific purposes. He said you've got to love God with all your heart—that's worship—and love your neighbor as yourself—that's ministry. That's called the Great Commandment. And then Jesus said, "Go make disciples," that's evangelism, "baptize them into the family of God," that's fellowship, a sign of fellowship, and then he said, "Teach them to obey everything I've taught you," that's discipleship. And we call that the Great Commission.

We believe at Daily Hope that a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will produce a great Christian, a great church, a great company, a great community. You know, I started Daily Hope so I could spread the good news about Jesus, not just across America, but all around the world. And we want people to know that God's word is filled with hope and truth and the power that we need to follow him every day is available to every single one. You know as well as I do that the word of God changes lives. It's alive, it's active, and it breathes new life and new love into all of our lives.

So wherever you listen to this, whether you listen on the website, whether you listen on a radio station, or whether you listen through a podcast, you're a part of the Daily Hope family. And I need your help. We could not do this without your support. We're 100% listener-funded. Would you continue to pray for this broadcast and would you continue to support us? And write to me, let me hear from you. I absolutely love reading the stories that are sent to me. So write me, pray for me, and support this ministry. And God will bless it, and God will bless you, and we'll get to heaven and we'll thank God for all the people who are going to be in heaven because you cared.

Guest (Male): Hey, if you'd like to support Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, just go to PastorRick.com. That's PastorRick.com. Or you can text the word HOPE to 70309. That's the word HOPE to 70309. And really, from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you so much for your support. Your gift to Daily Hope helps us share the hope of Christ with people everywhere. Hey, be sure to join us next time when we look into God's word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.