Today my best friend is writing a guest post. He’s been around since high school, and I’m honored to have been married to him for almost 49 years. You may not realize how much Phil already contributes to whenthehouseisquiet.com. Besides doing the whole technical side of the blog, I depend on his knowledge of Scripture, theology, and wisdom to read through my ramblings and guard me from jumping off some heretical cliff. Seriously, I owe so much to him and am grateful for his input. Philip John Schroeder, thank you and I know you will appreciate what he has to say today.
The Blame Game
I've noticed in myself and others, the tendency to blame others for situations. We make statements such as: ”He makes me so mad.”, “If they hadn’t done _______, I wouldn’t have done ________.”
An announcer for the KC Royals (back when they were awesome), mentioned a quote from his father; "the only thing you can control in life is your attitude." Classic shifting of blame is found in various forms of apologies such as; “I’m sorry if you felt hurt by my actions.”
Observing the Blame Game in Action
I experienced one of the most flagrant statements of blame in our first months of marriage. I was working in construction. The site supervisor, came fuming out of the contractor’s shed, yelling at the excavating contractors with words not used in church. 
He then began proclaiming in a voice loud enough to be heard around the whole construction site; "these **** people are making me lose my Christianity!!" I was shocked he had any Christianity. I was puzzled how he could blame others for his own attitudes, his own spiritual decline, if he had any spirituality to begin with.
My new bride, Sylvia, surprised me that evening with some puzzling information. She knew who the supervisor was, and his daughter had been one of her best friends in grade school. They were a good “church going” family!
Where Did Blaming Others Begin?
Blame started in a garden setting, “The man said, ‘‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree,.…’’” . Then the woman had her turn, ’’The woman said, ‘‘The serpent deceived me,…’’” Genesis 3: 12,13, ESV.
Mary and Martha blamed Jesus; “…
; ‘‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:32, ESV
; ’’Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’’” John 11:21, ESV.
The disciples “needed” to find someone to blame for the blindness that afflicted the man the encountered at the temple: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” John 9:2 ESV
How might our lives be changed if we took a “blame game” reality check and went on a “blame game “fast”?
Look it up in Scripture
Look up some other examples of the “blame game” in Scripture. Check out:
Discussion
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