DBD: The Blame Game

Series: Don’t Be Deceived

Lesson Title: The Blame Game

INTRODUCTION

We are continuing our series titled Do Not Be Deceived. This is one of the main ways Satan tries to lead God’s people astray. Jesus calls Satan the father of lies. He brought deception into existence, and he has been hard at work since the beginning deceiving God’s people. He deceived Eve into eating the forbidden fruit from the tree that God had forbidden, and even at the time of Paul and the other apostles, the fear of God’s people being deceived by Satan was present. We need to keep in mind the ways in which we can be deceived, whether that be directly by Satan or by our own self-deception.

For our lesson for this hour, I would like you to consider one big excuse that we make in order to say “everything is alright” for us spiritually when in reality, it is not. I would like to talk about how we can deceive ourselves by placing the blame for all of our problems, and especially our temptations and sins on others instead of ourselves. We may excuse ourselves and think we are right with God because the way we are is our parents’ fault, or our spouse’s fault, or our children’s fault, or Satan’s fault, or even God’s fault.

POINT 1 - The Garden

We see this playing of “the blame game” from the beginning.

In , Satan brought into question God’s word and God’s motivation for giving the command to not eat of the fruit. Eve saw the tree was good for food and was delighted by the sight of the fruit. It really looked good. And the idea of being wise like God sounded good. So she took the fruit and ate and gave some to her husband who was with her.

Then the Lord comes to them, and they hide themselves from His presence, being afraid. Upon being confronted by God regarding disobeying His command, the blame game starts…

“12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”” (, ESV)

Adam blames Eve, but not only Eve. He says, “the woman whom YOU gave to be with me…” There is a sense in which God is being blamed by Adam here also. Then Eve is questioned, and Eve points her finger at the serpent.

But even though they pointed the finger at someone else, there were consequences for all involved even though they attempted to shift the blame onto someone else. There were consequences for the serpent, for Eve, and for Adam for their part in bringing this first sin about, and the chapter ends with Adam and Eve losing their home in the garden of Eden, and losing access to the tree of life.

POINT 2 -

We also see the blame game being played in would like us to look at verses 1-3.

“1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3 As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel.” (, ESV)

Jeremiah refers to this proverb also in .

It had become a fashionable thing to say, a common excuse to blame the troubles of the nation of Israel on the previous generations. It’s not that those generations were without fault, they were not, it is just that the present generation shared the responsibility for their troubles. They had come to describe their situation as that of a parent eating a sour grape but the children's teeth being set on edge. The parents were eating the sour grapes, but the children had the taste of them in their mouths — as if to say they were only innocent victims and not to blame for their suffering and error.

But the Lord says, “As I live… this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel.” The people needed to know that their fathers were not responsible for all of their problems. Throughout the first 24 chapters of Ezekiel, we see that the reason for the judgment that was coming to Jerusalem was not because of their fathers’ sins but because of their own. Within the first 24 chapters the word rebellious is used over 20 times to describe the nation of Israel that Ezekiel was preaching to.

In verse 4, the Lord says, “4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.” (, ESV)

Ezekiel points out here that each person is directly responsible to God for their own actions. Each soul/person who sins, God will judge. He will not judge or put to death one person for the sins of another.

And in verse 9, the opposite is true. Each individual must be faithful to the Lord if they are going to be blessed by Him with life. The child is not counted as being right with God or righteous because their parents are.

So once again, we are each responsible for our conduct. Blaming our parents will not work. Their wickedness does not bring judgment upon me, and their righteousness does not make me righteous.

Blaming their fathers for their predicament is deceptive because, as long as they were blaming someone else for their problems they would not be seeking to make the needed corrections in their own lives. That is the essential message of the eighteenth chapter; Wake up and accept responsibility for yourselves and do something to get right with the Lord.

In verse 23, here is what the Lord says: “23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (, ESV)

The Lord wanted them to change so that He didn’t have to judge their nation and bring in the Babylonians to destroy them. His desire for them, as it is for us if we are living rebelliously is that there would be repentance. In verse 31, the Lord said that they needed to cast away all of their transgressions because He didn’t want them to die, but to turn to Him so they could live.

POINT 3 -

One other passage I would like to consider is in . .

“13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.” (, ESV)

In this passage, James talks about this process of sin is conceived. He takes this idea of personal responsibility a step farther than Ezekiel does. Not only must we take personal responsibility for our sin, but also for our temptation also.

But it is interesting in who in this passage is being blamed for the temptation. “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God…”

I think we can understand why someone may blame God for temptations that come about during trials. If God is sovereign (which He is!), and if it was His will to allow a trial to come upon us or to bring a trial upon us, may we be tempted to think that God is the source of those temptations that arise? That seems reasonable, right? It may. But there is a problem when someone (or we) may think or say that God is tempting me: we are forgetting who God is! This is important to remember! God is good. He cannot and will not do evil, and He cannot have evil motives in allowing a trial or temptation to come upon us. James is clear, “God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.” God cannot even think about doing evil and it is impossible for Him to do evil. So how could He tempt someone? He can’t. It is impossible. Yes, Satan may be involved in trying to tempt us while we are going through a trial that God is using to mature us with, but this does not mean that God is tempting us.

Let’s skip down to verse 17. James in this verse builds upon the idea of God’s goodness and tells us the kind of things that God gives: “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” God is the source of all that is good and holy, and this will not change. I think this is the most comforting part about verse 17: James says that with God there is no variation or shifting shadow…we never have to worry that God will change. We don’t have a reason to think that God is going to be inconsistent in His nature. He stays the same ALWAYS, and he is always good and doing good. And as we saw in our last lesson, when God allows us to go through trials, He always has a good end in mind for those trials. He desires us to grow and mature. He wants us to grow in our strength to overcome and to grow in our self-denial so we can be more like Jesus.

WHOSE FAULT IS IT?

With these things said said… then the question comes up: Who is first and foremost responsible for our being tempted/drawn towards a sinful response to our trials? James answers this in verses 14-15:

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Who is responsible? We are! We are just way too quick to place the blame on other things or on other people. Why do we do this? Often because we want to try to justify our sin… What is interesting to me about what James says in verse 14 is that he did not answer the question of who is responsible the way I would commonly answer the question. Usually my first response would be, “Satan is the one to blame for temptation. He is the one who pulls me away.” I believe it is too often the case in my life that I am way too quick in placing the blame for my temptations and sin on someone else, including Satan. But James does not go there. The “Satan made me do it” excuse doesn’t work either! James says we are the ones to blame. We are the ones who are responsible whenever we are drawn away by our own desires.

DON’T BE DECEIVED!!

So James says, “Don’t be deceived” in verse 16. This is what we are whenever we want to blame others for our temptations and sins, including God. It is not God’s fault that you are tempted and sin. It is not your parent’s fault. Saying, “If only you didn’t do this, then I would not have sinned,” does NOT work, no matter who you are talking to. Each one of us is responsible for our actions and how we respond emotionally to circumstances in our lives, and there is no way to justify our actions.

CONCLUSION

The sooner we see this in our lives, the better. Until we are willing to place the blame where it should be placed for our actions, on ourselves, true repentance is not possible. How can any of us say that we are repentant of our actions if we say our sin is someone else’s fault? Repentance can come only when each of us sees our sin for what it is — our own rebellion against God. Our sin is our rejection of His goodness and glory, and we are the ones who will be held accountable.

INVITATION

The thoughts of this lesson are important for all here. If you have not yet become a Christian, you need to see that you are going to be held accountable for your actions and your words and your thoughts. As you stand before the throne of God in judgment when you leave this existence, there will not be any way to justify yourself. There will not be any other person you can point the finger at and blame for your actions.

And because of this, you need the mercy of God which comes through Jesus. You are desperate for the forgiveness that comes only if you will take responsibility for your actions, believe the Gospel message, and with a repentant heart, be baptized into Christ.

And if you are a Christian, you need this message also. You are the one who is accountable for what you think and feel. You are the one who is accountable for what you believe and practice. You won’t be able to stand before God in judgment and say, “Well my preacher or my elder said this.” You won’t be able to say, “but I went to a good church.” All that will matter is if you dealt with your sin. Did you repent? Did you confess your sin and take responsibility for what you have done against God?

If there is anything we can do to help you receive the mercy of God today, why don’t you make your need known while together we stand and sing?