Don't Blame Me!

Don’t Blame Me!

We live in a society where no one is at fault any longer for their sins and failures.  So seldom does a person step forward and say “I’m to blame.”  We blame the parents, grandparents, the government, the teachers, the schools, al Queda, El Nino, the judicial system but no single individual is ever at fault.  Attorneys are adept at using this tactic to free the guilty in court rooms all over the country when someone is charged with a crime.
In San Francisco a few years ago a city manager shot two councilmen to death for a disagreement.  When brought to trial his defense said he had suffered a reaction to some Hostess Twinkies which made him nuts.  When Reginald Denny, the truck driver in Los Angeles, was beaten by the mob for just being in the wrong place, he nearly died.  His tormentors were given lesser sentences because it wasn’t their fault it was mob brutality!  No one is to blame for their own crimes.  It’s always somebody else’s fault.
In the Bible in Genesis when Adam and Even sinned after the devil in the form of a serpent beguiled them to disobey, God confronted them.  Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the snake but they all got punished.  I’m convinced God doesn’t always pay off on Friday nights but He always pays off.  The most difficult three words in vocabulary are, “I was wrong” or “It’s my fault.”  In court that is called a confession.  In the Bible it’s “homolegeo” or to say the same thing that God says.
How can we ever hope to solve problems or fix things if it’s always someone else’s fault.  It the coffees too cold we complain but if it burns our tongue, we sue the restaurant.  It’s MacDonald’s fault we have weight problems or the makers of Oreo cookies.  My own pilgrimage in life has taught me we have clay feet, we fail, make mistakes, errors and sin.  Yet pride makes it hard to admit because we just don’t accept criticism or confrontation very well.
This is not a sermon, I hope it does not come off that way, but instead an evaluation of human need to be honest with ourselves and others.  Fear causes us to be deceptive and hide things but perfect love cast out fear.  I have found that we are more likely to find grace, forgiveness and help when we are contrite in honest confession, then condemnation.  If this article offends or is misunderstood  . . .  it’s my fault.  I was wrong.  Can you imagine what work, politics, and relationships would be like if we were able to be honest about our failures.  Nobody is perfect, we all fail and there’s enough grace for everyone.  There’s enough blame to go around, be sure you don’t give yours to someone else.

Chaplain Larry Sparks
1/8/04