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God Should Never Be Relegated To The Role Of Cosmic Scapegoat

Playing the blame game is always a losing proposition. This is especially true when you blame everyone else and fail to take responsibility for your own actions. I know, I am a professional at finding fault and deflecting. What I find remarkable is how we allow sin to so alter our perception that we choose to blame God. Of all the people you could choose to make a scapegoat out of, God is the absolute least qualified for the job. We’ll talk more about that in a minute.

What brought this to my attention was a tweet sent by Buffalo wide-receiver Steve Johnson after dropping a pass. Read what Mr. Johnson wrote:

I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO…

This post is not intended to be a rant about Steve Johnson. He only wrote what many of us often feel. What he wrote was wrong, as I will point out in a minute, but this is not about Steve, its about my heart and your heart.

What is there about our sin that causes us to doubt the most faithful, loving, kind, gracious, and trustworthy friend that we could ever know? The only sense I can find in this is to examine two positions in the light of eternal Truth. First, lets consider our position:

Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

Ecclesiastes 9:3 – Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Romans 3:9-12 – What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Isaiah 1:5-6 – The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil.

Romans 7:18 – For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.

Now for comparison purposes, lets consider God’s position:

Exodus 15:11 – “Who is like Thee among the gods, O LORD? Who is like Thee, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?

1 Samuel 2:2 – “There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides Thee, Nor is there any rock like our God.”

Psalm 24:3-5 – “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

Isaiah 6:3 – “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

1 Peter 1:16 – “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

No exhaustive commentary on my part can make it more clear that we are in no position to lecture God on what is fair. It is His sheer grace that prevents us from “getting what we deserve.” Let’s take it a step further however and see what God has done despite our position. Examine the following verses:

Ephesians 2:1-9 – “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

We can choose to blame God for many things, but in the end the only thing He is truly guilty of is being Himself. I for one am glad that He is guilty on that charge.

HT: Justin Taylor and Erik Raymond

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