NO ONE’S FAULT BUT MY OWN

I came across a story that tells about the manager of a minor league baseball team who tried to show his players how center field was supposed to be played. He failed miserably and finally said, 'Look at what you've done! You've messed up center field so bad that even I can't do a thing with it!'

You see this attitude all too often in the world around us with people complaining about everything, blaming others for their problems, or forgetting to be grateful. Rare are the folks who are willing to sing the old spiritual:

No one's fault but my own

No one's fault but my own

If I die and my soul be lost

Ain't no one's fault but mine

One day Adam was out with his two sons and came to the Garden of Eden, where he and Eve were kicked out. Adam just stared at the beauty of the Garden until one of the boys said, "Dad, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Wiping a small tear from his eye, he said, "Son, that's the Garden of Eden...we used to live there 'til your momma ate us out of house and home!"

Funny, but the reality is that we really have been using the blame game from that far back. In the third chapter of Genesis, we see God coming back into the Garden of Eden following the temptation & sin of Adam & Eve.

"Don't blame me," says Adam. "It wasn't my fault. It was this woman that you gave me.

"Eve?" "Don't blame me," she says. "It was the serpent who deceived me.

That unwillingness to take responsibility for our behaviors continues throughout scripture up to this very day. Refusing to recognize our own culpability, we blame our parents, children, friends, or almost anything else we can think of.

The real challenge confronting us all is to respond to our circumstances with strength and courage rather than with excuses. Who was there in all of history that could serve as a finer example for us at this point than our Lord? He is so much more than a good example, but an example he still is. It really wasn't his fault, ever. He was without sin. He took blame and punishment that he didn't deserve, just for us. For all those times, I've blamed others, the economy, even the church for my own failures…He took the blame.

That's why along with "isn't no ones fault but my own" we can also sing:

All hail the power of Jesus' name!

Let angels prostrate fall;

Bring forth the royal diadem,

And crown Him Lord of all.

Bring forth the royal diadem,

And crown Him Lord of all.

If I’m going to play the blame game, I guess I can blame him for all that is good in my life. For everything else…isn't’ no one’s fault but my own.