“It’s God’s Fault!”
“The foolishness of a man ruins his life, but it is against God that his heart rages.” (Proverbs 19:3, my translation)
“Blame must be assigned—and it’s not me!” (A twelve-step friend’s saying)
I once had an interesting encounter with an unbeliever who was in the hospital. He was dying, and asked a very interesting question: “Why is God doing this to me?” The question was interesting for three reasons.
First, I’m not sure that the man actually believed that there was a god. However, if he did believe that there was a god, apparently such a god served only as a blame magnet.
Second, the man had been an alcoholic, drinking heavily for about forty years. He was dying of cirrhosis of the liver—a common disease brought on by long-term excessive drinking.
But the third reason his question was interesting was that it reflected a very common tendency: When in doubt, blame God!
Did I say that this tendency was common? Universal would be more accurate. This tendency is also exceedingly ancient. It goes back not only to the time of the writing of the Book of Proverbs in the Bible. It goes back to the Garden of Eden. Thus, Adam, when confronted with his disobedience, said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she tempted me and I ate it.”
We usually notice that Adam blamed his wife. (Fortunately, since then, husbands never blame their wives for their own wrong-doing, do they?) But did you notice the phrase “. . . whom you gave to be with me . . .”?
As Andy Stanley points out, the man is basically saying, “God, you owe me an apology.” Since the Garden, we have continued to hold God responsible for all kinds of personal and cosmic tragedies. Why are earthquakes and hurricanes “acts of God,” but the stability of the earth and gentle summer breezes are not?
Of course, God doesn’t have a corner on the blame market. Blame is a very competitive sport. The Republicans blame the Democrats, and the Democrats blame the Republicans. We all blame the media, though we may—and do—choose whether Fox or CNN is to blame. Social media has given us the chance to blame one another anonymously and feed off the blaming frenzy of other like-minded folks.
If only we could figure out who is really to blame, then we could all rest easy! Right?
There is, perhaps, another path. However, be warned: It ain’t easy!
It is called taking responsibility for ourselves, and for how we live out our individual selves in relation to others. Being responsible in our thoughts, words, and actions is the best way to win the blame game, because, when it gets right down to the heart of the matter, responsibility is the only way to win the blame game. And here, “winning” the game means playing another game entirely.
What would happen if we all got up tomorrow morning, and said, “Today, I will be a responsible human being!”? There might be fewer car wrecks, fewer mass shootings, fewer pipe bombs, less bombastic nonsense.
I think I’ll try it! Any traveling companions?
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