The Blame Game

THE BLAME GAME

Many people are happy to take the credit when things work well and go right; but are quick to pass the blame when things go wrong. Some behave like this because they want to stay out of trouble; some because there are ready made scapegoats available; others still because the person in charge is the best person to blame. We put God into this category because it suits us to say he is in charge, when we choose to lay our mistakes or disappointments at his door.

On a global level - If we can blame God for the drought then we can also blame Him for the floods. On a personal level, if we can blame God for letting us fall, then we can also blame Him for not preventing us from slipping. The blame game begins when you refuse to accept responsibility for your own mistakes or misconduct – something you did wrong or omitted to do. The typical reasons for playing the blame game are convenience or weak conscience (1 Cor 8:7). The more perilous reason to enter the game is to justify breaking the rules. The beginning of the blame game was at the creation of human beings. The husband and wife ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When God questioned them, Adam blamed Eve and Eve in turn blamed Satan (Gen 3: 12-13).

The blame game mocks innocence, suggests a sly way out of a dilemma, and shelters much mischief (Luke 23:4-7). Governments’ blame their predecessors for the country’s present woes; the very virtue of a partner is blamed for the other’s waywardness; peer pressure is blamed for blatant rebellion, and progress and liberty take the blame for the rapid erosion of law and morality (2 Tim 3:1-9). Some even blame the busyness of life as the reason for having no time for relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Most games have winners and losers. The blame game sets into motion the timeless law that says what you sow you will reap (Gal 6:7), whether in marriages or families or in the workplace or in a country. While it is only proper to take responsibility for your actions and not pass the blame to another, the greater feat is to do the right things and to do them correctly – in the first place. This is not impossible. God can help in this area because the Spirit of Christ will whisper within you and help you make the right choices and say the right things (Isa 30:21).

God is no mere human! He does not play the games that people play (Num 23:19). Your life is precious and not a game to Him. He does not abandon you when you blame him for things you do not understand, cannot presently explain or that go contrary to the way you would have liked. He does not blame you for your shortcomings. He does not blame you for being the architect of the mishaps you single-handedly produce.

Long after you have openly blamed heaven for your frustrations or inwardly said that things could have been better if God was doing his job well – God remains God, your ever loving, forgiving God (John 11:21). He waits patiently for you to grow and mature and turn into the person you were born to be.

Mike Abel©