Why Christianity is key to overcoming today’s victimhood discourse
In July, Joe Biden blamed jet lag and a “really bad cold” for his poor debate performance against Donald Trump. Soon after, the former President blamed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for security failures after he was shot at in Pennsylvania. Before that, he blamed “Joe Biden and his thugs” for his indictments, and Joe Biden blamed Donald Trump for sinking his Ukraine bill. And so the list goes on.
You get the picture. The media, and indeed our culture, are awash with victim-blaming. It is positively unfashionable in 21st century America for our politicians to not blame something on someone, or someone for something, and for the media to not jump on it. This is now the case even in cases where it’s self-evident that the “someone” had nothing to do with the “something” and is clearly a transparent attempt to cover up our politicians’ mistakes.
Victimization, victim-blaming, and victim-thinking have become the political capital of the modern age on both the left and the right. Instead of looking at our shared values and common denominators, we focus on our differences and areas of opposition. Victimhood makes us think that we are always losing, and our oppressors are always winning.
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The goal of political parties has to some extent therefore become “only our party can save you from the oppressors.” It is no coincidence that the title of Donald Trump’s third book is Save America, and that Joe Biden claimed his resignation was to “save democracy” from Donald Trump.
It is also no coincidence that American society has become more polarized and tribal as a result. Victimization is the soil from which the vitriol, division, hatred, tension (whether political, racial, ethnic, gender, etc.) grows, and the Church has not escaped unscathed either.
It was in the early 80s when politicians recognized the Christian movement as a voting bloc. And as we became subject to the political system, we lost the spiritual and moral high ground. Since the death of Martin Luther King Jr., the Church has not clearly defined what spiritual and moral truth looks like, which is partly why ideologies such as BLM, critical race theory, and transgenderism have risen to try and fill the gap. And as they have, these movements have been seen by many to be our moral replacements — particularly on the political left as much of the Church has become increasingly associated with the right.
I grew up in the 80’s in Alabama, where I initially went to an all-black school, and it was not until my third-grade year when some of us black students were bused to the white side of town to be integrated into a majority white school that I regularly saw white kids and white teachers. The narrative I grew up with was that black people were Democrats and white people were Republicans. But after being there for just a few months, it dawned on me that people with white skin weren’t stopping me from succeeding. I recognized there was no such thing as white supremacy the moment I stopped believing in black inferiority.
Jesus does not need politicians more than politicians need Jesus, and God is neither Republican nor Democrat. In Joshua 5:13-14, Joshua went up to the angel and asked, “are you for us or for our enemies?,” and the angel replied “neither.” The idea that Christianity is only right leaning has no basis, and is merely a reflection of how we have weaponized politics.
De-coupling the Church from being defined by politics and overcoming the victimhood mindset would lead America to the greatest cultural revival it has ever experienced. Zero victim thinking begins with humility and repentance in our churches and elevating Biblical Truth above politics.
But two things remain necessary to break free from victimhood thinking.
The first is the centrality of faith. We still have not understood that there is a consequence for Godlessness. Whenever a society moves away from faith in God it creates a spiritual and moral vacuum. There is a consequence to getting God out of schools, governance, and mainstream society.
We must have a level of hope beyond what we can see and experience to pull us out of the pit of victimization. People have to believe that their circumstances can improve. We can affect things, we’re not just affected by them, and we’re not alone in going through them either. Organizations such as Hope for the Heart have created resources on hundreds of topics to support those who feel hopeless and don’t know where to turn.
The second is mindset changes. Romans 12:2 talks about being transformed by the renewing of our minds. This mindset renewal process helps us to change our perspectives and narratives about life and look at the world through fresh eyes, instead of being captured by a particular ideology.
It may sound like a cliché but showing the power of love and forgiveness works against the victimization mindset. The more we move toward God the more we move toward the framework of love which gives us the power to overcome victimhood, which I cover in my book Zero Victim.
The world is perfectly designed to make victims out of each of us. It’s not about what we face or how we try to avoid it, it’s about how we go through it. We can rise above it if we are intentional about it, but it begins with a new attitude and a new perspective — one that is centered around faith, forgiveness, and the renewing of our minds.
To hear me speak more about this topic at Hope for the Heart’s Hope Together Conference in September this year, sign up to attend at: https://hopetogether.com/
James E. Ward Jr., is the CEO and Senior Pastor of Insight Church, and is the author of Zero Victim.
