When the Crowd Turns: Group Harm, Mobbing, and Redemption

Most of us have known the sting of rejection — a quiet avoidance, a cold shoulder, or an aggressive slight.

Sometimes the harm is not just from one person, but from a group. It is persistent, pervasive, and painful. And it is:

• Planned

• Intentional

• Secretive

This is mobbing.

Mobbing is a form of group harm where someone is targeted, isolated, and discredited. It can happen at school, at work, in a family, or even in a church. It often begins quietly—a shift in tone, an inside joke, a vague accusation. Then it grows. Others join in, some actively, some passively, and the crowd takes on a momentum of its own.

Mobbing wounds in ways that are hard to name—because it is both deeply personal and profoundly communal. The harm is intended and the pain is real. But, as with all forms of malice, its greatest harm ultimately falls on those participating.

Joseph: A Familiar Story of Plotting and Scheming

One of the clearest biblical examples of mobbing is found in the life of Joseph.

He was favored by his father. Gifted. Different. And his brothers were envious.

Their resentment simmered into a plan. “Let’s kill him,” they said. Then came a compromise: “Let’s not kill him—just throw him into a pit.” Eventually, they sold him into slavery and staged his death. They went home and had dinner. Joseph went to Egypt in chains.

Joseph's suffering didn’t end in the pit. In Egypt, he was wrongly accused and imprisoned. Forgotten by the ones he helped. Discarded again and again.

Joseph’s story is not just about suffering—it’s about suffering at the hands of others who should have known better. Family. Siblings. People that looked away.

But that’s not where his story ends.

What Group Harm Feels Like

Psychologically, mobbing can feel like gaslighting—like the ground beneath you has shifted. You can see it. Conversations shift when you enter a space. People behave strangely in your presence. There’s a story being told about you, but you’re not allowed to know it or to respond.

The effects of mobbing can mirror trauma—particularly relational trauma and betrayal trauma:

• Anxiety, hypervigilance

• Sleep disruption

• A sense of unreality

• Disbelief, confusion, despair

  
  

And when this happens in sacred spaces—families, churches, ministries—the impact is compounded. The harm may be wrapped in spiritual language or cloaked in righteousness, and always with a justification - it's okay, because...

“...he's just not aligned with us.”

"...we decided it’s best for everyone if they leave.”

“...she deserves it and it has to be done.”

This is mobbing - and these are lies.

Redemption Is Not In The Hands of The Group

If you’ve been mobbed, it may feel like your story has been written by others. That you’ve been stripped of credibility or cast aside. That your voice doesn’t matter.

Joseph likely felt that way, too.

But Scripture tells us, “The Lord was with Joseph.” In prison. In exile. In betrayal. God did not abandon him. And if you choose to put your life and your story in His hands, God will stick just as closely with you.

In time, Joseph was elevated—not because he clawed his way back into the group, but because it was God's plan and Joseph yielded to God. Years later, when famine struck, the same brothers who cast him out stood before him needing help. He eventually forgave them and wept, saying:

“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” (Genesis 50:20)

That is the shape of redemption and the power of God in mobbing. Like Joseph, we can cooperate with Him in forgiveness — not denial of the wrong, not saying it was okay, but in choosing to forgive. We can trust His reclamation of purpose in the aftermath.

If You Have Been Mobbed

If you have been mobbed, you may feel disoriented and confused. You may feel invisible and unseen. You may wonder what in the world even happened. Here is what is true:

• What happened to you was not okay.

• God is with you and for you.

• Your story is not over.

Jesus Himself was mobbed—shouted down, spit upon, crucified by a crowd. He knows what it means to be betrayed, misunderstood, lied about, and left alone in agony.

And He conquered sin and death. He rose and He lives and, if you choose it, He lives in you.

If You’ve Been Silent or Participated

If you recognize that you were part of a group that harmed someone, even by omission, there is grace for you too. Repentance is not shame—it is freedom.

Joseph’s brothers could not undo what they had done, but they did eventually turn from it. And, God's redemptive grace was for them too, His plan was for their repentance and restoration. That is Grace. That is Love. That is Jesus.

A Closing Word

Mobbing is real. And it can be disorienting and painful, but it does not get the final word.

Joseph was the brother cast aside. He became the one who preserved a nation and brought God's people into Egypt in fulfillment of God's prophecy to Abraham (Genesis 15:13–14). Jesus was the stone the builders rejected. He became the cornerstone.

So if you feel alone in a pit—If you have been the subject of whispered conversations—If your name has been spoken with scorn—Take heart.

Your story is not over.

Your Redeemer lives and He sees.

And He is writing something beautiful, not just in spite of your mistreatment, but through it.

The Lagniappe

References

• Leymann, H. (1996). The content and development of mobbing at work. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5(2), 165–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594329608414853

• Tippett, N., & Wolke, D. (2014). Aggression between siblings: Associations with the home environment and peer bullying. Aggressive Behavior, 41(1), 75–86. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21557

• Duffy, M., & Sperry, L. (2007). Workplace mobbing: Individual and family health consequences. The Family Journal, 15(4), 398–404. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480707305069

• Holy Bible, English Standard Version. (2001). Crossway Bibles.

  • Genesis 37–50 (Joseph’s story)

  • Genesis 15:13–14 (Prophecy to Abraham)

  • Genesis 50:20 (“You meant evil against me…”)

  • Isaiah 53:3; Luke 23 (References to Jesus’ mobbing and suffering)