It's His Fault (The Blame Game)

It's His Fault (The Blame Game)

Scripture Reference: Romans 1:20-32

Preached at Mount Zion Baptist Church on October 13, 2019

Delivered by Rev. John Daniel Johnson

www.mountzionfamily.com

Opening—This morning look to the person sitting near you and then point to a man across the room and say, “I did it, but it’s his fault.” Open with prayer.

Read Scripture

When my youngest daughter was a few years younger, she asked me so politely if she could color with some crayons. I watched as she walked through the living room with a box full of crayons in her hands, and a coloring book under her little arm. She strolled right through the living room and into her bedroom and began coloring. As she colored she sang and hummed top herself. After a few minutes, the sounds stopped. Wanting to check on her, I walked into her bedroom. What I saw next will forever be seared into my brain.

Obviously the coloring book was not enough for her, so she decided to draw a mural on her wall. The mural was as detailed as a three year old could make it. She had a picture of her mommy and me, along with her and her two sisters. She drew a big heart around all of us and had a rainbow and clouds; it was definitely a three-year-old work of art.

When I walked into her room, she was admiring the masterpiece. She didn’t even see me enter. As I looked along with her, all I said was, “Charity.” Slowly she turned and looked at me, and sat down on the bed with her crayons still in her hand. I then asked her, “Who colored on the wall?” Without batting an eye she replied, “I think mama did it!” Well, I’ve seen her mama (my wife) draw. The artwork wasn’t quite up to Jessica’s caliber; so I asked again. I said in a harder tone, “Charity, who colored on the wall.” Again, without missing a beat she replied, “Well, I did, but it’s your fault. You told me I could go in my color in my room.”

Blame. We’ve all been guilty of playing the blame game. Let’s be honest for a moment. Our society loves passing the buck or blaming others for one’s own problems. If you’ve been one of unlucky ones that have been keeping up with politic in America you’ll be quite aware of the blame game. Democrats are always blaming President Trump for every wrong doing in our Country. Republicans are always blaming Democrats.

Liberals blame Conservatives; and vise versa. Our society blames gun violence on guns instead of people, blames the drug problems on addiction rather than personal behavior, and blames the weather on global warming. It is even been reported in the Washington Post that President Trump is responsible for the hurricanes that struck Puerto Rico a few months back.

Whenever something bad happens, we immediately find somebody or something to blame for the problem. When Hurricane Katrina stormed through New Orleans, the people blamed it everything from poor construction of the levies to white supremacy wanting to kill poor, black people. When the Twin-Towers fell and the attacks on the Pentagon took place on 9/11, people blamed the incident on everything from extremist Muslim groups to a President Bush and an inside job. The current fires in California have been blamed on everything from dry weather, to the President, to mismanagement of the local leaders. Whenever there is an unfortunate shooting, we blame everyone from the gun manufacturer, to the government, to the NRA. We love the blame game. There’s a false belief out there that there’s always somebody or something responsible for every action or mistake we do.

We live in a society that people have a hard time taking personal responsibility for their actions. Our Nation even has a special day set aside for it. The first Friday the 13th on the calendar is called “National Blame Someone Else Day.”

People want to blame their mom or their dad for the choices they made. It’s the drugs’ fault for causing people to become addicted. It is the guns’ fault for the shootings that occur. It’s the teachers’ fault children are acting out in class. It’s the coach’s or the referees’ fault the athlete has no discipline. It the police officers’ fault, the other drivers’ fault; it is always someone else fault when mistakes occur.

The blame game is not a new game. (1) For the next few minutes we are going to look at a few examples of people in the Scriptures that passed the blame onto somebody else instead of taking responsibility. (2) Secondly, we’ll discuss the things we can’t blame on others. (3) Finally, we’re going to discuss where we can place the blame and how to take responsibility for our actions.