Fixing the Blame
The Rev. Lou Tiscione, Pastor, Weatherford Presbyterian Church (PCA)
A common malady of mankind is selective amnesia. When problems occur or plans aren’t working, our first impulse is to find the one who is to blame. The last place that we look is ourselves.
No matter what the issue, political, church, and home, etc., the cause of failure or dysfunction is always, it seems, pursued outside of ourselves. Do not think that I am suggesting that justice should be suspended. We live in a peaceful society as long as the rule of law prevails. Wrongdoers should face judgment.
I remember several stages through which any project passes. One of the stages is called “reward of the non-participants”. Another is “persecution of the innocent”. Within each stage is an activity called “fixing the blame”. When a problem occurs, an effort ensues to find someone to blame rather than fix the problem. It doesn’t seem to matter if the blame was deserved. The important thing was to hold someone else responsible for the problem; thereby relieving oneself of any responsibility.
“Fixing the blame” is not only reserved for worldly activities. Man’s desire to fix the blame is as old as Adam and Eve. Adam sought to blame God for his failure. After all, it was God who gave him the woman (Genesis 3:12). Even the woman blamed Satan. Yet, neither’s argument impressed God. Adam, Eve, and all creation bore the penalty the “Fall”. The entire human race inherited Adam’s sin nature and deserves God’s wrath!
God viewed man’s desire to fix the blame and said, “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine; the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:2-4).
God said to fix the blame (or to deny responsibility) was like a father eating sour grapes and his child experiencing the sour taste. God said that is not so. Rather each one is responsible for his sin. Denying our responsibility will not make it go away. Every individual will stand before a holy God and give Him an account for his actions.
The way “Lord” and “GOD” are printed in your Bible is very important. Lord means Adoni, Master and the Sovereign One. GOD, with all capital letters, signifies the personal and covenant name of God, Yahweh, and The Great I Am. Yahweh is a form of the Hebrew verb “to be”. In Exodus 3:14 God declared that He is Yahweh, “I am who I am”. The only true God, the Sovereign Creator, the Triune God was fully revealed in Jesus who referred to Himself as “I Am”. He holds each one accountable for his actions.
The fact of Man’s responsibility was written by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Rome. “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek [Gentile], but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality” (Romans 2:9-11).
God’s holiness requires that He act with perfect justice. God, as the Apostle declared, does not favor any nationality, position, or individual person. All are judged based upon His perfect standard. His judgment is final. God never “winks” at sin.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ which He gave to John has these terrifying words of judgment. “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done” (Revelation 20:12).
Every human being deserves punishment for sin. We deserve punishment because we are responsible for our actions which proceed out of our sin nature. The only way to be spared from God’s wrath is through Jesus’ perfect life and sacrifice. He is the only appeasement of God’s wrath. Jesus alone paid the price for sins. We all deserve hell. But, God is rich in mercy. Jesus took the blame for His people. “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
