Time Out: Weekly quiet times for the youth worker’s soul.
by Adam Wormann

I have two young sons who are great, but have a tendency to get into fights as young boys often do (I have a daughter too, but she’s not usually in on this…). Whenever there’s a problem between the two, the stories that come out are always interesting. The amazing thing is that it’s always the other person’s fault. I don’t think I’ve ever heard something like, “It’s my fault, I pushed him and I shouldn’t have.” It’s almost always, “I pushed him because he was sticking his tongue out at me,” or, “He was annoying me!” There’s always a reason, it’s always someone else’s fault. It probably has something to do with not wanting to get in trouble, something to do with wanting to be justified, and part to do with our nature. It’s been there all the way from the beginning.

Take a look at Genesis 3. It’s a passage that’s very familiar. It’s familiar because it’s a story we’re taught beginning early in life, and we see it played out constantly. It’s a story of sin, and a story of not taking the blame.

It doesn’t just happen when we’re young. It’s our story, even now.

Look at Eve’s reaction. She couldn’t say, “I messed up.” She had to look for someone else who did what was wrong.

Look at Adam’s reaction. He couldn’t say, “I was wrong.” He blamed someone else.

Sure, someone else really did do something wrong in this case. They were correct in what they said. The problem is, God didn’t ask them what someone else did, he asked what they did. He asks us the same question.

When we do something wrong, it hurts to take the blame and say we were wrong. The temptation is always there to justify what we’ve done. There’s always a reason “why” we’re not to blame. There’s always a way that we can say something isn’t our fault. The reality is, we’re not perfect, and we’re often to blame. We need to be honest with ourselves and say, “Is this my fault?”

Don’t look at what other people are doing. Make your first response be, “What can I do better?”

Reflect

• Do I typically take the blame for things I may be responsible for?
• Do I look for my part in what’s wrong, or what someone else did
• Where is there tension or wrongdoing in my life right now? Am I owning up to it or am I looking for someone else to do it



Posted on April 2, 2012