Somehow having a “beef” with photo radar brings to mind Adam and Eve. When I think about Adam and Eve I think about fruit, or more specifically the fruit they were forbidden to eat (which didn’t dissuade them for too long). So when God confronts Adam about partaking of that fruit, Adam quickly attempts to pass the blame onto Eve (and God) by replying, “you know that woman you gave to me? Well, she gave me the fruit!”
Now this whole business with fruit gets me thinking a bit deeper about things like the various selfish reasons many children are forced to grow up without the full love and support of both parents, politicians who blame one another for our nations economic woes, celebrities who check into rehab when they have done something controversial to skirt the blame and athletes who conveniently “misremember” certain details about what performance enhancing drug they were taking…uh, I mean not taking!
At their core, photo radar, forbidden fruit and finger pointing is really about responsibility, or the lack there of.
Which brings us to Christendom, where there are two statements that make me cringe, (actually there are many more, but just play along) the first being "The Devil is attacking my life!" and the second is "God is blessing my life!"
Now, I do believe that there are spiritual forces at work in our lives whether we are aware of it or not and both statements do carry with them an incredible amount of truth that we can hardly hope to understand. God is hardly given enough credit for his merciful interventions, protection and blessings that we are so often oblivious to. Whereas, I think most of us choose to remain in ignorance to the actual amount of influence and involvement the devil has in our lives.
Its just that all too often in my lifetime spent within the “friendly confines” of the church I have heard such statements thrown around quite frequently and flippantly as God or the Devil has been credited with everything from God having a hand in providing a parking place to the devil striking with pimple outbreaks before big dates.
I don’t pretend to know how the spiritual realm works and to be honest those Bible passages informing me that my battles are actually against the “forces of evil in this dark world” sound a bit creepy and a tad overwhelming. I am pretty sure however that when my car runs out of gas on my way to the store it doesn’t mean that somehow the devil has taken an upper hand in the spiritual arm wrestling match with God. And vice versa, when I trip while walking down some stairs and miraculously catch my balance before a disastrous fall, it doesn’t mean that God has just “put it” to the devil either.
These statements bug me so much because it is just another avenue for people to deflect responsibility. I have seen too many people pass the buck of responsibility in their lives to either God or the devil depending on the circumstances. Most recently I was reading a story about a popular Christian musician back in the 80’s who was arrested for possession of cocaine. Years later it seemed that he had learned little about personal humility and responsibility, simply chalking it all up to “the devil (doing) his number”.
A friend of mine who was going through a divorce also skillfully attempted to evade blame with his comment on the dreary situation that "the devil is really working hard to tear us apart". My first thought being "is God on vacation or something? The Devil is wreaking havoc on your life and God isn't doing a thing?" The truth was that he was simply refusing to acknowledge the years of mistakes, hurts and unforgiveness within his crumbling marriage. Oh, but we can throw all that practical thinking out the window and blame it on the ole’ devil!
Besides the fact that it is a cowardly way of attempting to dodge personal responsibility, there are other issues with the emphasis on the devil being associated with every negative and God being credited with every positive thing that happens in our lives. First of all, when it "hits the fan" (oh, and it will!) it causes us to wonder where God is in the midst of the devil laying waste to our lives, despite His great promise that He will never leave nor forsake us.
Sure, it would be nice to be able to credit the devil with all the uncomfortable and painful moments in our lives, however, more often than not those difficult chapters in our story are actually sacred moments in which God is carefully and gracefully putting the defining touches on who we are.
The truth is that what we may want to believe is the devil may actually be God trying to get our attention.
Another problem with the (positive = God, negative = the devil) approach is that the devil, crafty as he is, can manipulate situations so that they appear to be positive, like an answer to prayer even, when in fact it is of no benefit to us at all. We might be tempted to believe that because an answer we have been seeking drops from the sky all nicely packaged with a bow on top that it is a blessing from God, when in all reality it may be nothing more than another empty promise from our enemy.
Now, God isn't immune to having a fair share of blame directed at him either. The biggest problem most people have with the whole idea of the existence of God is that they cannot fathom a loving God allowing all the pain and suffering that ills humanity. As if its Gods fault that humankind has made bad decisions, as we slowly destroy the planet, engage in war with one another while often ignoring the needs associated with the spread of sicknesses, disease and hunger. We seem to forget that God originally created all things good, beautiful and complete, while it was humanity that made a mess of it.
If we aren’t placing the blame on spiritual forces than we are not too proud to pass it along to someone or something else. We’d rather accuse our spouses, mothers or fathers, our depression or addictions, our boss or work situations, the economy and even the President (need I go further?) than lay claim to our own mistakes and troubles. I was even talking with a pastor who blamed alcohol consumption as a factor in many occurrences of infidelity. I don't really buy that, alcohol doesn't "make" anyone do anything, (besides act stupid) it is simply an easy excuse.
The fact is that we are reckless with our money and our time, our bodies and our birth control, our emotions and even our very souls. Heck, because of our unreliability and negligence the very planet that God so lovingly and deliberately designed for us is slowly being destroyed. From within our dire circumstances we cry out “why God?” while ignoring the fact that our actions have consequences.
Without responsibility and accountability in our lives there is little hope that our co-workers, friends, significant others or even our children will hold us in any measurable amount of esteem. In fact, it may very well erase what little character we might have had and remove any clinging fibers of integrity. A lack of responsibility has cost us in our marriages and has done damage to our relationships with our children. With only finger pointing and no one willing to shoulder the blame our country has been driven into unimaginable debt. Irresponsibility and at times an unwillingness to admit its wrongs the churches reputation and effectiveness has been eroded.
All of us (myself most definitely included!) need to begin taking small steps of responsibility within our lives and own up to our faults and failures. Seek forgiveness from God and those around us for our weaknesses and our shortcomings. We make our own decisions and we need to be accountable for them. Like the old saying goes, “we must lie in the bed we make”.
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