Issue 150
Most people at work have encountered a scenario whereby someone who was once successful slowly or even spectacularly fails and falls, through a series of mistakes or wrong turnings. As the process unfolds spectators begin to realise that this individual has brought the failure upon themselves through their own actions. Out of pity or sometimes spite some are heard to mutter, “he (or she) has only got himself to blame”. The failing individual now has criticism and isolation added to the catalogue of woes. The phrase muttered by the onlookers only compounds the agony by distancing people from the problem and placing the responsibility firmly on one pair of shoulders only.
If you are the individual you can find yourself in a very low state and particularly short of one resource, namely hope. But the Christian perspective on such processes exposes the inappropriate nature of the muttered judgement. In many circumstances it is true that you have no one to blame but yourself. This is particularly the case when you stand before God, accountable for your life. But the whole point of the Christian message is that there is someone else who will take the blame. God has put upon his Son the faults of us all. Ironically the person who realises that there is no-one to blame but themselves may also be more open to the offer of rescue than the individual who insists on self-justification and defence: the place of despair becomes the place of hope. Jesus announced that he didn’t come for the ‘right’ ones, but the failing people, those who know that they have blown it. In making his announcement, he also knew that he was also setting his own path to take the blame upon himself. In this sense, he was offering to say that there was no-one to blame but himself; something which he could do, not because of his own failure, but because of his own perfection. The only reason the rescue plan works is that someone who didn’t fail takes the blame anyway. This is the meaning of the work of Christ.
Quite a few Christians are prepared to celebrate Christ’s rescue in relation to the ultimate destiny of their souls. But what about today’s disastrous work project or company failure? What about the bankruptcy disintegration or career collapses? What about the job that doesn’t work out? Jesus doesn’t just take away sin but sins. There is no-one else except you who got you into this mess, but there is someone who will get you out of it. You ask Peter.
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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