In one of my devotional times this week I was reading a selection by the Reverend Charles Stanley which centered on Adam and Eve's story from the Garden of Eden. The title of the devotional was something like "The Blame Game", and the gist of the message was that when a person does something wrong in life we need to be more accountable, yet dating back to the beginning of time passing the buck has apparently been the common modus of operandi for a large percentage of people in the world.
In Genesis chapter 3 we find Adam crunching on the apple from the Tree of Knowledge when suddenly God enters the scene looking to have a check-in with the pair. Realizing they had been duped and disobeyed the rules that God had laid out nicely for them, they hid in the bushes hiding their nakedness in shame. Well as the story goes when God asked Adam why he had eaten from the only tree that He had instructed the couple to not eat from, Adam did what most people today do when they mess up, blame it on someone else! That's right Adam told God that Eve had convinced him to eat the apple. That gets Adam off the hook, right? Wrong. We'll get back to that in a minute. Well not to accept the responsibility of causing Adam to fall, Eve went about the business of pointing the blame in another direction away from herself. Eve proceeded to explain to God that the serpent told her that it would be okay to eat from the tree and thus the serpent was the one that should really get the blame for Eve, and also Adam eating from the Tree of Knowledge. I guess my question is who did the serpent blame? I mean really, I guess the serpent (Satan) probably would tell us that it was actually God's fault that he convinced Adam and Eve to eat from the tree because he had got kicked out of heaven and didn't want to end up alone in the dismal pits of hell. I don't know, but I'm pretty certain that the serpent didn't and still doesn't want to assume responsibility for the evil of this world.
Well as I read Reverend Stanley's devotion my mind just couldn't quit thinking about how the situation that Adam and Eve found themselves in is relative to the same situations we find ourselves in today and we still, just like Adam and Eve don't want to take the ownership of our choices and decisions either. I mean really Adam and Eve both admitted to God that they ate the apples. Guilty. End of story, bottom line, stop. If we mess up we need to stand up and say I messed up, period. Ownership isn't saying "I did it, but they made me do it". That's not ownership, that's called passing the buck. The reality of it is Adam ate the apple, he was instructed to not eat the apple, but he chose to eat it anyway. Why he did it is of no significance. Own it Adam. And that is the message I want to convey today in our brief time together.
Do we actually think we are getting away with something just because we blame it on someone else? In our mind, we may be able to justify "why" we messed up and did what we did in life, but ultimately nobody else is going to be held accountable for the actions you take and the decisions you make. You got to own that my friend! In society today, it appears that nobody is responsible for their own actions and choices. It's always going to be somebody else that should be held accountable for our actions. That's wrong. Who are we kidding? But oh, so real today. We see it in school, it's shouted out on the playing field, we hear it at work, and it is spread all over the world through our TVs and social media outlets. Nobody wants to stand up and take responsibility. I guess my question is who do we think we are fooling? To whom does it matter the most whether we sin or not and if we confess our sins or not? That's right God knows not only our actions, but our thoughts as well. Matthew 5:28 tells us that even when we sin in our minds God knows it and it is sin in the making. I believe sometimes many people feel that as long as they blame someone else for their mistakes that they actually are off the hook. Let's go back to our original forefather Adam. Adam ate the apple, he is guilty. He can blame it on whoever he wants to shift the blame, but it was his hand that lifted the apple to his mouth, and it was his mouth that took the first bite and ate everything but the stem! So, who should Adam blame for eating the apple, Eve? No, Adam needed to step up and accept that he chose to eat the apple, even though he knew better, he ate the apple. He had a choice to make and he made it plain and simple. Own it Adam.
Why is it so hard for us to own up to the choices we make in society today? We can deny our responsibility all day long and we can blame everything or everyone else for our actions, but when it comes down to, who is it that we will have to answer to anyway? We can push the blame in any direction that we like but Romans 14:12 reminds us that " each one of us will give an account of himself to God." That's right, we can shift the blame anywhere we like, but the one person that knows our hearts, minds, and souls, knows what we do and why we did it even if we convince the world that it was someone else that was to blame. If this is true then why is it so hard for us to take ownership of our own choices and decisions?
The thought of being or doing wrong equals failure in our minds. Failure is not desirable, but as Winston Churchill said it isn't fatal either. Society today equates messing up, failing, with defeat which is completely out of line with reality. Find me someone that has never made a mistake or made a wrong choice, you can’t, man wasn't made that way so unless you have met Jesus you won't be able to find someone that hasn't made a wrong decision which ultimately led to a failure. The good news is just as Churchill said failure is not fatal. I John 1:9 tells us that "if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." People may not forgive us when we mess up, but God is faithful and will forgive us. That's the message that we are missing. We are all too worried about what man will think about us and we don't give any thought to the fact that God knows everything about us and he is still willing to forgive us if only we will ask Him to forgive us! To do that you've got to own it. In my mind, I can't say "Please Lord forgive me for my sin, because it wasn’t my fault anyway that I did what I did!" That's not asking for forgiveness, that's making excuses. And we don't get forgiveness for making excuses!
Realize you are not perfect, realize you will mess up, and realize it may hurt to own up to it, but that is all part of the process of forgiveness. Owning up and taking responsibility is a trait that we all should be modeling to our children, our students, and the world we live. You can be forgiven and you will be forgiven by the One that matters, but first you have to be able to say "I did it so I am responsible for it!" Raise the bar on the accountability chart in your life. Live it, model it, and teach it every day!
Coach Carter
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