“Game Night!” There is a lady and family in the church I pastor who love to play games. They will get together on a pretty regular basis just to play games. Exotic games. Me? I’m more into Backgammon, but I also know people who are into long games of Monopoly or Risk, or other games. They will play for hours!
There is actually a common game we all play. I wish it was new. I wish I had thought it up and marketed it. Every time it is used I would get a “piece” of the action. I would have made millions. We all play it and often without giving it a second thought.
THE BLAME GAME.
I read of a city employee in Lodi, CA who sued the city to the tune of $3600 because he backed a dump truck into his personal vehicle. This 51 year old man argued “the city’s vehicle damaged my private vehicle.” I’d say he not only has a screw or two loose, but I’d even go out on a limb and say he was looking for a new job!
Whatever happened to taking responsibility? I had three brothers and when something would happen mom would get us all together and ask which one of us did it. “Not me” was all she got. Then she had this uncanny ability to discern which one of my brothers did it and say, “Okay Rob/Garry/Curt (notice who’s name is missing?) 🙂 , why did you do it? We were good at blaming; not good at lying and taking responsibility.
The Blame Game is not new. It started in the Garden with Adam and Eve. After their sin and God confronted them, they blamed another. “It was the woman you gave me.” “The serpent deceived me.” From the very moment sin entered the world, blame came with it.
We are good at it. Let’s be honest. It is so much easier blaming someone else for our mess up, than to take responsibility. Here is a challenge: take note of how often in a day you hear or use the Blame Game.
Let’s stop playing this game. Let’s start playing the “I Did It” game or the “Point my Finger at Myself and Take the Blame” game.
I use to struggle with this a lot. Having grown up with 3 step-brothers and a sister, I learned and played the game well. I justified my actions in my own mind and actually convinced myself more often than not that I was right… Oh how I was deceived. Oh how I learned a pattern of behavior that would take years to unlearn. I won’t say I have fully overcome, there are still times… Occasional outbursts of anger that come out that I justify and start to blame…
Thankfully, they are very far and few between these days… Some may call that maturity, I call it God working through me and in me. But I am still a work in progress.
We ALL need to see ourselves as works in progress Ryan. The fact that you recognize it shows your maturity and growth. It still takes a lifetime to change, but changing as you have and are is essential.
I’m so tired of the Blame Game, Bill. I see it everywhere. Why can’t people take responsibility for their actions or non-actions?
Blaming others is a waste of everyone’s time. And this administration has it down pat.
Blessings!
I, too, am tired of it all Martha. I see it in the church as well. Pastors blaming the other leaders. Staff blaming their pastor. On and on it goes. As for this administration: I will reserve my comment due to the political nature of said comment. 🙂
Great reminder Bill. It is not so easy to admit when we are wrong, or to just simply say, its my fault, I messed that up. When you think about it, there is no better way to honor God, and to show others how God works in us than to take responsibility for our actions. Everything we do, is used by someone to judge christians, the culture loves to see us, blaming others, having fits of rage, gossiping, setting one standard for the culture and living by our own standard for ourself. Honoring God, is a 24/7 job, I want to try as hard as I can, to bring the culture up to God’s standards, not show the culture that I am no different than them. God set us apart, we should want to stand out, in a positive way that bring glory to God.
WOW Gail! So true in what you said. Admitting we are wrong is hard but so much more than important than we realize. I, too, want to set the standard not copy society’s. That would be tragic in itself.
So true, Pastor Bill. It’s such a part of human nature to pass the buck when it comes to accepting blame. God help us to come clean and be honest with Him. He already knows the truth anyway.
It is human nature Cheryl and you are so right when you say we need to come lean and be honest since He already knows the truth.