The Blame Game

​​​by Adam Kronberger / Head of School

We have probably all experienced or participated in the blame game at one time or another.  Maybe we were accused of something we didn’t do, or perhaps we shifted our own blame onto somebody else.  Perhaps a stranger bumps into the pyramid of oranges at the grocery store and looks at you with a condemning eye as shoppers watch the fruit cascade onto the floor.  Or a passenger on a bus begins to smell the effects of Taco Tuesday while the guilty passenger points toward the innocent baby in diapers.  The star player commits his final foul in a playoff game so his teammate quickly attempts to convince the official the foul was on him instead.
 
Once when sledding at Diamond Lake as a child, I joined in with a crowd playfully throwing snowballs in the direction of the snowmobiler grooming the slopes.  My throw happened to be less than playful as it landed squarely on the windshield of the snowmobile.  The disoriented driver looked past me toward somebody else and commanded, “Off the mountain!”  My flesh rejoiced!  How fortunate for me to have the blame placed on someone else.  My conscious was fully in the clear….until I found out that it was my companion who had been unfairly discharged.  Within minutes, my clear conscious was replaced with a tortured disappointment in myself.  What was I to do? 
 
We know that sin entered this world through us humans. Since then, God’s creation has played the blame game, not choosing to take responsibility for continuous transgressions.   God decided the solution was to take the blame for us.  The crucifixion of His son Jesus Christ on the cross was the penalty for the sin we are incapable of reconciling.   Even one of the thieves on the cross recognized this truth while the other thief insulted Jesus (Luke 23).  It is helpful to be reminded of the reason Jesus died on the cross. He sacrificed His life for us because we were to blame and he took the guilt for us.  What are we to do?  Respond daily with a grateful and repentant heart eager to be an ambassador for His offer of redemption for others.
 
For an inspirational story of God’s forgiveness and redemption, I highly recommend the movie Overcomer!​
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– Adam Kronberger / Head of School