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Blame culture in Jersey.
Something has gone wrong. Therefore someone (else) is to blame - and I must be
compensated.
Blame at work in Jersey.
A joke - an old joke - told of a new Departmental Manager meeting his dismissed
predecessor and being given two envelopes to open; envelope A was to be opened
by the new Manager the first time anything went wrong ; envelope B was to be
opened the second time that happened.
Inevitably, something went wrong. Inside
envelope A was a two-word instruction. "Blame me". Inevitably, a
second thing went wrong. Inside envelope B was a longer instruction,
"Prepare two envelopes, one marked A, one marked B.....".
Blame in politics in Jersey.
"It was a decision of a former Committee." "Those responsible
(not me) have been disciplined."
Blame in marriages in Jersey.
Who started it? It wasn't me.
Blame in churches in Jersey.
"They've got it wrong." "Not us."
Blame in the Bible. On only the third page
of the Scriptures accumulated by the nation of Israel over the centuries of their
existence BC, Adam is asked if he has disobeyed the LORD God. "It was Eve
who gave me the fruit." "What's more it was you, LORD God, who gave
me Eve." What does Eve say? "The serpent deceived me ..." Always
someone else - even God, or Satan.
And because the blame is placed on others they
are discredited. Never mind, we say.
But here's a remarkable thing. Back in AD
30-33, Jesus Christ came across that same dis-crediting, blame-transfer
mentality. Two examples. In both examples the Greek verb for what they are
saying is, literally, hurt-the-report-of (blame) this man.
First, when senior religious leaders
travelled 50 miles from Jerusalem
to assess Jesus, they hurt-the-report-of him by saying, "He has an unclean
spirit" "By the prince of demons he casts out demons". In that
way, they raised themselves up.
Second, when two criminals were executed
for their crimes along with Jesus Christ, they both hurt-the-report-of him
whilst they were undergoing the death penalty. One of them used the words,
"Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" Even in death, this
criminal was blaming Jesus for failing to save him from the punishment that he
deserved.
But the second of the two criminals by
Jesus' side then changed his mind (something rare these days when avoidance of
loss-of-face is more important than changing one's mind and doing the right
thing). This man, in his dying hours did not want to blame Jesus but instead
found reason to distinguish the conduct of which they - the criminals being
executed - were blameworthy and the conduct of the blameless Jesus, also being
executed with them.
He says to his partner in crime, "Do
you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we
indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man
has done nothing wrong." "Jesus, remember me when you come into your
kingdom."
And a most amazing thing then occurred - at
the precise moment when a convicted criminal agreed that he was to blame. The
man Jesus, blameless but blamed and dis-credited and being executed, said to
the blameworthy man, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
It won't surprise you to hear from this
man's followers in AD 2008 that they are blameworthy.
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