The blame game dates all of the way back to the Garden of Eden when God accused Adam of eating the forbidden fruit. He blamed Eve (and indirectly blamed God for creating her). Eve blamed the serpent. The serpent left Adam and Eve holding the bag (sin and guilt). It didn’t work then (all three were punished by God) and it won’t work today, but that doesn’t stop people from trying.
Those of us old enough to remember the comedian Flip Wilson will never forget his character, Geraldine. Her favorite expression was “The devil made me do it.” That line always got a huge laugh because deep down we all realize how ridiculous it is to blame someone else (even the enemy) for our decisions and actions, yet the blame game is still popular today.
It is especially evident during an election year when politicians blame their opponents for everything under the sun. However, the blame game is not limited to politics. We find ourselves divided racially, ethnically, religiously, socially as well as politically. The blame game is easy to play when we stereotype a whole group of people who are different from us and blame that group instead of blaming a person. All stereotypes are false. Each person is unique and not the same as others who happen to share a characteristic, so it is unjust and unfair to blame any person by association.
We all remember the childhood retort, “When you point a finger at me there are three fingers pointing back at you.” Whenever we feel the urge to blame an individual or a group for something, we should first take a hard look in the mirror. Psychologists are familiar with the term transference. It is a defense mechanism that projects our bad characteristics onto others. When someone falsely accuses me of anything, I always suspect they may be secretly struggling with that problem themselves and attempting to project it onto someone else.
What does God’s word say about passing the blame? God issued this warning in Hosea 4:4 “Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you.” After all of the suffering Job endured the scripture says, “In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.” (Job 1:22)
I have written before about Satan’s con game of comparison. The blame game is just another one of his cons. If he can get us to participate, we will always lose and he will always win.