Who To Blame & Other Wrong Questions

There were four of us siblings growing up together in my family.

When anything went wrong (something spilled, stained, torn, broken, left open, not turned off, or all the cookies eaten from the cookie jar), we instinctively knew what to do…

Quickly point a finger and assign blame to another kid.

Or perhaps the more subtle approach: “You might want to ask Katie about that.”

And use these famous words: “It wasn’t me.”

Yeah, we all become talented at shifting and assigning blame early in life. As we grow up, we take on a more sophisticated approach to the blame game. Instead of pointing an actual finger, we do it with our words, thoughts, or attitudes.

In John chapter 9, Jesus and his disciples see a man who had been blind from birth as they walked down the street. The disciples were curious, so they asked Jesus, “Who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?” (John 9.2 MSG)

They were trying to make sense of something gone wrong.

It was time to do some accounting—break out the ledger sheet, do some tabulations, and place an “X” in the blame category. The disciples made 2 columns: 1) the blind man, and 2) his parents.

Who gets the “X” Jesus?

We need to know, so we can nod our heads knowingly and think, “Yes, that makes sense—it’s all Bob and Pam’s fault. I had my money on them anyway, and now Jesus confirmed what I thought about them. Such a sad story. And a good reminder for us all: don’t sin like them!”

Except Jesus didn’t point the finger.

He didn’t assign blame to Bob and Pam, or their blind son.

Jesus answered their question, but He didn’t give the disciples an “X” to place in a column.

Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do.” (John 9.3 MSG)

Put down the ledger guys.

Now is not the time for accounting, tabulating, putting “X’s” in columns, pointing fingers, or assigning blame. You’re asking the wrong questions.

Look instead for what God can do.

Wow!

That line hits me hard: Look instead for what God can do.

Talk about an attitude shift.

Rather than trying to make sense of something gone wrong, we need to be looking for what God can do.

In the case of the man born blind, Jesus healed him. The man who had never seen before could now see.

When things aren’t right, we might be tempted to ask who is to blame and other wrong questions…

But instead, we need to be looking for what God can do.