Who's afraid of the big, bad bully?

"Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." - Psalm 82:4 (NIV)

In recent weeks, bullying has become a major topic of discussion in the news and other circles, mainly due to tragic circumstances:

• Last week in Detroit, a 7-year-old boy killed himself apparently after being the victim of bullies.
• A 17-year-old boy in the Tampa, Fla., area was left brain-damaged and paralyzed after he tried to kill himself after students at his school taunted him because they claimed he was gay.
• In Kingwood, Texas, a couple withdrew their twin 11-year-old sons from school after the boys had been bullied for their ethnicity. They had been born in India, and according to news reports, bullies at their middle school had taunted them regularly, calling them "terrorists" and punching one in the eye and shaving his eyebrow.

Efforts have been amped up in recent years to combat the apparent growing tide of bullying, though sometimes they have been counter-effective and amount to bullying themselves.

A main example of this came last month.

Sex columnist Dan Savage, who says he is gay, created the It Gets Better Project, in 2010, aiming to reduce the number of suicides among teens who had been bullied because they were gay or believed to be gay. However, at a high school journalism conference in Seattle, Savage profanely spoke out against Christians and the Bible, saying they were responsible for attitudes against gay people. A group of students attending the conference, walked, leading the organizer, the National Scholastic Press Association, to call his remarks "inappropriate," and Savage to later apologize.

So what should be the proper response to bullying?

The Bible is pretty clear in saying that we should live in peace with one another and that we should work to protect those who cannot defend themselves:

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." - Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV)

Jesus himself said that we should love our neighbor as ourselves (see Mark 12:31) and take care of those around us (see Matthew 25:34-40). Anything less is cowardly and a sin against God (see Revelation 21:8).

In addition, 1 John tells us that anyone who claimed be in the light (a follower of Christ) yet hates his brothers is not truly a follower of Christ (see 1 John 2:9)

He also said we should love our enemies (see Matthew 5:43-48) and not strike back with similar violence (see Matthew 5:38-41).

At the same time, true peace can only come through Jesus Christ. John 14:27 tells us:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (NIV)

Are you self-righteous?

"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." - Luke 18:14 (NIV)

Most people are aware and generally do not like it when people pump themselves more than they are. We see it all the time with athletes, movie stars, and even amongst us. We ourselves can be guilty of it by looking down on those who do not have our viewpoints, whether we are liberal or conservative politically, root for a rival sports team, and other positions. Christians also have been accused of this, looking down on those who do not believe as they do.

Pastor Brooks Simpson of Grace Community Church in North Liberty, Iowa, recently spoke on this topic, referencing Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14.

'Do as I say, not as I do...'

"You have not lied to men but to God.” – Acts 5:4b (NIV)

One of the major criticisms of the Christian church is that Christian are hypocrites, preaching that people should behave one way, but then the Christians themselves do the complete opposite of what they had been advocating. It is like they are saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.”.

The early church, shortly after Jesus had risen from the dead and had been taken back up to Heaven, had to deal with this in the case of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. It was the practice of members of the early church to take their personal possessions, sell them, and then give the money to the church leaders who would then distribute it for the work of spreading the message of Jesus Christ and helping the poor.

Ananias had a piece of property that he pledged to sell and give all of the proceeds to the church. However, with the full knowledge of his wife, he sold the property, but kept part of the profits for himself (see Acts 5:2). Peter caught him at this, saying he had been lying to God when he pledged the full proceeds to the church but did not keep his bargain. Ananias dropped dead on the spot, stricken by God. Sapphira had a chance to tell the truth, but instead also lied, and she soon dropped dead as well (see Acts 5: 7-10).

Sadly, far too many times, Christians also have committed the same sin, pushing for one thing, but then doing the complete opposite of they have been advocating. In recent years, there have been high-profile cases of Christian leaders, ministers and priests who had taught on the need to be sexually pure, for instance, but then were caught committing the very sin they had spoken against. Needless to say, they had been caught, and had to not only reconcile themselves with God, but also work to repair the damage done by their acts, if possible.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus Christ never condemned regular people for their sins, such as the woman caught in adultery (see John 8:3-11), reserving his harshest words for the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees. The Pharisees regularly ordered the people to be humble and serve the synagogue in the name of God, but then pursued their own power while appearing to still be serving God. Jesus said “woe” on them, saying they were clean on the outside, but dirty on the inside (see Matthew 23:23-28).

Simply put, Christians should always examine their own hearts as to whether they are truly following Christ (see 2 Corinthians 13:5). Then we will be able to present ourselves as worthy representatives of Christ, and the rest of the world will know what Jesus is like.