Don’t blame Adam!

Don McCullough, in Discipleship Journal, tells the story of the manager of a minor league baseball team who was so disgusted with his center fielder’s performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself. The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth. The next one was a high fly ball which he lost in the glare of the sun – until it bounced off his forehead. The third one was a hard, line drive that he charged with outstretched arms; unfortunately, it flew between his hands and smacked his eye.

The manager ran furiously back to the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by his uniform, and shouted, “You idiot! You’ve got the center field so messed up that even I can’t do a thing with it!”

Blaming others is a game that has been played by humans since the dawn of creation when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. It is a game we still play. Blaming others for our faults and failures is a feeble attempt to take the focus off ourselves, to absolve ourselves of responsibility.

It is much easier to point our finger at someone else for our shortcomings than it is to say, “I have failed,” or “It is my fault.”  If we say, “I am an alcoholic because my father was or is an alcoholic,” we do not have to say, “I alone am responsible for the decisions I have made and how they have affected my life.”  Politicians seldom ever admit responsibility or failure for the things that go wrong in their administrations if they can blame everything that has gone wrong on a previous administration.

While it is true that “sin came into the world through one man” (Romans 5:12-15), the old “blame Adam” gimmick to explain away some fault or failure in our makeup is sheer nonsense. Even though God’s Word teaches that we inherited our sin nature from history’s first parents, we also choose to be disobedient.

Pride is at the root of all sin – Adam and Eve’s sin, or our own. It is, in essence, casting our God-Creator off the throne in our hearts and enthroning and enshrining self-will as god and master. It is this rebellious act that separated the first humans from God, and also separates us from God. We were created to do God’s will, but we said, “No thanks, God, we want to do everything our way.”

We should never attempt to blame Adam for our tendency to sin against God and others. We are sinners with or without the contributions of our ancestors, for “there is no one righteous, not even one . . . there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away” (Romans 3:9, 12 NIV).

Even though this is true, we still find ways to avoid saying, “I made a mistake! I am at fault! I have sinned!” It is much easier to make excuses by blaming someone else for our wrong decisions and actions.  Saying things like, “I was raised in a dysfunctional home,” or “I got with the wrong crowd,” or “Everybody is doing it,” etc., will not pass muster with God on the day when we all shall stand before Him to give an account of ourselves.

Someone has said of history’s first couple: “Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the snake. And the snake didn’t have a leg to stand on.” And when we try to blame others for our faults and failures and sins, neither do we.

God has provided the means for our redemption. God’s Word tells us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ” (Romans 3:23 NIV).

In other words, although we were sinners, because we were sinners, God sent His Son into the world to take our penalty for sin, which is death, upon Himself. How great is the grace of God! It is sufficient to cover all the sins of the entire human race – including yours and mine.

To receive the gift of everlasting life, all anyone must do is bow before God and sincerely say, “I have sinned. I don’t blame Adam or anyone else. I alone am responsible. Forgive and cleanse my life, I pray.”

You will be surprised at how much difference it will make in your life.