Our Desire to Avoid Blame
by Gary Henry
"Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours'" (Matthew 25:24-25).
Having erred, we can be quite creative in coming up with excuses. Rather than face the facts head-on, we dodge the truth. Not only in speaking to others but even in our minds, we do our best to minimize the seriousness of our misdeeds.
In the Parable of the Talents, the man who mismanaged the money entrusted to him by his master tried to make it look as if he had just been playing it safe. The master was not fooled; he charged him with being a “wicked and lazy servant” (Matthew 25:26).
Psychologically, we all have a need to see ourselves in a positive light. We spend a good bit of our time in life building a positive self-image. And when that self-image is threatened by sin in our lives, we do everything we can, like a good PR agent, to “spin” the facts in our favor. In the private ruminations of our minds, we indulge in rationalization and self-justification. Even in the words we use, we describe our sins as “mistakes” and our sinful character traits as mere “foibles.” But who are we trying to convince? Probably ourselves. We’re trying to repair our bruised self-image for our own comfort.
This wouldn’t be so bad if it moved us to improve our character and to start living better. God would be pleased with that result. Too often, however, it is the devil who is pleased. Having gained a victory, he gets extra mileage out of our sin by getting us to concentrate on self-justification rather than repentance.
What would be a better path to follow? Many suggestions could be made, but consider the following.
- We can prioritize self-improvement over self-justification. Seeing ourselves as we are, without excuses, is the first step in becoming more than we are.
- We can study what the Scriptures teach about godly sorrow and repentance (II Corinthians 7:9-11). If we neglect these subjects, we put our salvation in jeopardy (Revelation 2:5).
- In our prayer life can spend more time seeking self-honesty. If we pray sincerely about this, our Father will gladly help us acquire the honesty and openness that were of such benefit to David (Psalms 19:12-14; 139:23-24).
"O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself" (Augustine of Hippo).
