Every week I hear the same thing; it’s not my fault…I am a
victim. It was my parents, it was my siblings, it was my disability, it was a boss, a friend, an enemy, it was my spouse, it was her fault, it
was his fault.
And most of the time, I am the one saying it.
Ever since the Garden we, the human race, have been making
excuses for our actions. “It was the serpent you created, it was the woman you
gave to me” (Gen. 3:12-13). When it comes to blame shifting though, are there
times when it is appropriate and true? Can a child who has been beaten or raped
repeatedly by a parent be held responsible when they grow up to be abusers
themselves? Can a crack baby or the child of an alcoholic be blamed when they
too start drinking or smoking crack? Are the 3 young ladies held captive in
Ohio going to be held responsible for every aspect of their lives after having
been held prisoner while being tortured and raped for 10 long years? Do we
blame prisoners of war, survivors of genocide, those sold into slavery, or abandoned
and orphaned children who have never been held by another human? Are there any
experiences in life that are so atrocious, so painful, and so unbelievably evil
that our society could no longer hold someone responsible for their actions if
they survived them?
This was the question posed by a recent RadioLab podcast
called “Blame” that can (and should) be heard here.
Throughout the show researchers explore the lives of two
criminals. One is an addict of child pornography, while the other is a rapist
and a murderer. Both have various levels of mental illness. The producers ask
repeatedly throughout the show, who is
ultimately to blame for the evil in this world? Their reflections bring to
the surface incredibly important questions about morality, the definition of
sin, and human responsibility.
Research into the months leading up to the shootings at the
Washington Naval Yard earlier this week have revealed that Aaron Alexis was a
mentally unstable man who heard voices and was convinced that strangers were
secretly attacking him with vibrations and microwaves. When his own life was
taken during the fatal events on that morning, his ultimate motivations
disappeared with him. But if the earlier reports hold true, then Aaron was a
man seeking help for psychological disorders beyond his ability to control. Which
begs the question, was the shooting his
fault?
As followers of Christ, these questions should make us squirm
a bit. In one sense we might all default to the biblical truth that “all have
sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” In that sense, it offers all of us a cosmic
and universal verdict in which no one is handed a “get out of jail free” card,
and everyone is ultimately guilty. It is an easy answer in a world that offers
few.
Yet, on the other hand, the fact remains that we must also
work for justice within the constraints of this world as well. While eternal
consequences can be left to God, many temporal ones are determined by
governments and courts established by Him to ensure shalom. On this side of the world-to-come how does the Church
extend honest and sincere grace to the real victims among us while
simultaneously calling them to obedience, lawfulness and genuine holiness?
This morning, I don’t have an easy solution that fits into a
blog. But I am reminded today, as I have been throughout the week, that it is
much easier, and far more distracting to fight against flesh and blood. The
deep and lasting truth is that we are all victims. The world is held bondage by
a sin so deep and so completely destructive that only the blood of God himself
could do anything to stop it. A truth that is equally as deep is that we are
all responsible. I never pulled a trigger in an open crowd, but I have murdered
men and women by the dozens in my mind and heart.
Because of this, the road to peace, justice and life is
never going to be won by bigger walls, more bars, or a larger police force. Not
in any lasting sense, at least. For believers everywhere we should be spending
much more of our time praying against the voices in shooters heads as we do for
guilty verdicts for the heads they are in.
