Letters From Grandpa #505

• LETTERS FROM GRANDPA
• 505

Dearest grandchild,

Today’s letter will deal with the human tendency to blame someone else for the mistakes we make. When Adam sinned he blamed Eve and told God: “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.” (Gen. 3:12) Eve blamed the serpent and said: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Gen. 3:13) True repentance, involves accepting blame and confessing guilt. The prodigal son, for example, confessed to his father: “I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” (Luke 15:21) It is childish and foolish to try and blame others for our mistakes. You cannot fool God for He knows everything!

Here are some pathetic examples of excuses from a previous generation. They are still relevant, however, for wise King Solomon reminds us that “There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) The following excuses came from an article written by John Tayler in the New York magazine in 1991, yet they are as up to date as the morning news.

• Rose Cipollone smoked a pack and a half of cigarettes every day for 40 years. When she developed lung cancer, however, she filed suit against the Liggett Group and two other tobacco companies. “Don’t blame me” she protested “I’m a victim.”
• When Marion Barry, the mayor of Washington D.C., was caught smoking crack in a D.C. hotel, he did not blame himself, he blamed the woman he was with and accused her of setting him up. His friends chimed in blaming the federal agents for a “racist plot” designed to hound black people out of office. Sally even Jessy Raphael defended Barry a “victim” and excused his crimes because he was addicted to alcohol, drugs, women, and sex.
• James Carter was among 12 students arrested in a frat-house drug bust at the University of Virginia. His father was furious . . . not at his son, but at the police. He asked: “Why didn’t the investigators go to the University of Richmond or Norfolk State?” He felt that his son was the “victim” of discrimination and that the drug dealers should be prosecuted and not his son.
• When Dan White murdered San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, he argued that he was the “victim” of temporary insanity brought about by eating too much junk food. This is now known as the “Twinkie Defense.”
• Marjorie Thorenson had been a topless dancer, stripper, and alleged prostitute. She had been arrested for indecent exposure, lewd conduct, grand theft auto, and passing bad checks. She became a “Penthouse Pet” under the name of Anneka di Lorenzo. She was awarded $4,000,000 by the courts, however, by convincing them that she was the “victim” of a “Svengali-like” influence from publisher Bob Guccione.
• Richard Berendzen, the former president of American University, resigned after admitting that he had been making obscene phone calls from his office. Dr. Kenneth Grundfast defended him in the Washington Post, however, because he was the “victim” of an obsessive-compulsive disorder caused by abnormal DNA sequences. The doctor even went so far as to say: “The tragedy is more ours than his. We may be the weak and misguided, not Berendzen.”
• In New York a man was mutilated after deliberately jumping in front of a subway train. He was awarded $650,000, however, because the train didn’t stop in time to keep from hitting him.
• Lawyer Peter Goldberger defended women who murdered their own babies without mercy because they were “victims” of a temporary hormonal imbalance.
• ACT UP – an international AIDS protest movement – excuses people with AIDS for their careless and immoral conduct. Instead, they blame the government for failing to find a cure.
• Etc.

Let’s get real! You may fool the gullible public, but nobody can fool God! The Scriptures are clear: “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.” (Prov. 15:3) In fact, “Nothing is all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13). It was childish of Adam and Eve to not realize that God knew exactly what they did and why they did it! The same, of course, applies to us!

Please consider this parable: “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14) Remember! The way for God to exalt you is to be humble!

When the prophet Nathan accused David of adultery and murder, he immediately confessed: “I have sinned against the Lord.” (2 Samuel 12: 13). David repeated his confession in the 51st Psalm: “I know my transgression, and my sin is ever before me.” (Psalms 51:3) Perhaps David’s honesty is one reason why he is remembered as a “man after God’s own heart.” (Acts 13:22)

Please do not be discouraged because you have made mistakes and do not try to pass the blame to someone else! The Bible actually lists more mistakes made by Simon Peter than those committed by Judas Iscariot. The difference is that Peter humbled himself and came to Christ for forgiveness, and Judas didn’t! Please come to Christ for forgiveness as Peter did! For “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Jesus loves you and I do too!

Grandpa Boyce