The Blame Game

I’ve had this picture saved on my computer for who knows how long. 

I kept it for two reasons. 1) The bulldogs. 2) It reminds me of Genesis chapter 3.

You know this story, even if you don’t recognize the reference. It’s the third chapter in the Bible, right after the stories about the creation of the world. The Lord visits Eden to enjoy a pretty day with Adam and Eve, but the Lord can tell something’s wrong. So God confronts Adam: did y’all eat the prohibited fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? 

This is where Zelda the bulldog comes in. “To err is human; to blame it on someone else is even more human.” Human beings learned a lot of new things from that tree of knowledge. They learned shame (3:7). They learned fear (3:10). They learned anger (4:5). And when the Lord confronts Adam about the fruit, you see that they also learned to blame. 

"Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” 

The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” 

Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” 

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” (Gen 3:11-13) 

The buck stops… somewhere over there. Adam blamed it all on Eve. Eve blamed it all on the serpent. Humanity had learned a new trick. 

And, I don’t know about you, but it’s a trick I still use all the time. I’m especially quick to pull it out at home. It’s plain as day if you’re paying attention. It goes something like this: “Well I wouldn’t have said that,” or “I wouldn’t have reacted that way if you hadn’t….” Fill in the blank. This trick works great with spouses, co-workers, friends, members of your church, and so many others. 

Why do I do this? There are probably lots of reasons. I may be afraid of getting myself into trouble. I may want to avoid looking bad in front of people I hope to impress. I may do it out of sheer habit. Maybe I’m proud and don’t like admitting when I’m wrong or make mistakes. But whatever the reason, it’s so easy to become defensive and pass that buck.

But you probably already know that.

Of course, Adam wasn’t entirely wrong to lay the responsibility on Eve. Eve wasn’t entirely wrong to lay the responsibility on the snake. In both cases, though, they were refusing to admit their own culpability. And shouldn’t we Christians, of all people, be willing to own our mistakes and failures? After all, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace,” right?

At home I’m trying to get better at saying, “That was my fault.” Partly because I want to be a good model for my little girls. Partly because Emily shouldn’t suffer for my pride, my bad habit, or my trying to save face. In part, though, I’m also trying to remind myself that I am human—I have flaws, and I will fail. To remind myself that I still have some growing to do. That I still need mercy, grace, and transformation.