EXCUSES AND BLAME

I Was Just Thinking About – EXCUSES AND BLAME.

When was the most recent time you’ve heard someone accept blame for failure of any sort? The politician blames the other political party; an employee in any occupation blames a co-worker; a student blames an inadequate teacher/professor; a clergyman blames church officers or some member of the church; the Doctor blames incompetent staff; a criminal blames the crime victim or arresting officer. The protestors in the streets of this nation make use of unsubstantiated accusations. At the root of the protests is to find someone or something to blame. The list of blaming is long and approaches the never-ending mindset of excuses.

In the Garden of Eden temptation (Genesis 3), when God confronted Adam about the disobedience that had taken place, what was the first utterance he offered to God? His excuse was, the woman you gave me caused me to disobey. Adam chose to blame God. When God confronted Eve, she had an entirely different response. Her excuse was, the serpent You created told me it would be alright. Eve chose to blame a created being. The responses of Adam and Eve continue on in the approach to human needs of people today.

It is especially true and has become easy in the larger cities of this nation to become immune to the countless homeless people on the streets. It has also become easy to try to avoid such people and to pass by and wonder what went wrong without reaching out to help. Why is it that we have become so calloused/curious and are far more interested in the details of what, why, when, and where, than we are about how we can help?

An example of this is introduced in John 9:1-2, “As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him: Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” The disciples’ curiosity was about why he was suffering and that outweighed any desire to reach out to him. Were the disciples concerned about what they could do to help this man? Did they have any modicum of compassion for him? One of the followers of Jesus was a Medical Doctor. Would he pause and determine if there was anything that could be done to assist this man? It appears that lurking beneath the disciples’ question was a desire to know whom to blame for the problem.

Within the Church, the list of excuses is part of the never-ending category. Missionaries and Church ministries too often hear, “We can’t afford to do this!” However, if there was an examination of the misguided priorities one has embraced and believe are excusable, much more kingdom work could be done and accomplished. Sports Stadiums are occupied by some professing Christian people, who if they were asked to sacrifice the cost of a sports event for the cause of Christ would, in many cases, be met with mundane excuses. Forgotten in all of this is that God knows the heart and is keeping a detailed record. Oh? Obviously, change is needed! Will you put an end to your excuses and blaming of others? 

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.