I have a confession. I sin because I love it. Sin is not a behavior problem at the root. Sin is a love problem. I sin because I love incorrectly. Jesus makes this clear: “Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” John 3:19. As Bane says to Batman in the movie The Dark Knight Rises, “You think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it.”

This is true for all of us. We were all born in darkness. We inherited this sin nature from Adam that is naturally opposed to God. And even when Jesus saves us from sin and brings us into light, we still like to hide in darkness from time to time. When I’m confronted with a hard passage in Scripture or when I’m challenged to change something in my life and conform to God’s Word, I revert back to those old days of hiding. And a good tree I’ve found that keeps me from being exposed is the tree of blame. I’ve found critique allows me to voice my displeasure at what I see making me look righteous. It allows me to voice where I see injustice at work. It has a form of godliness to it. It shows people I care. It shows people that I’m aware of what’s wrong. But it also allows me to avoid change. So when I want to hide from sin, I have a lot of options. Blame though is often a go-to. I can do it several different ways.

I can blame the text. You know, maybe the passage is outdated. Maybe Paul or Peter or Jesus meant something differently than what is painstakingly obvious. Maybe the real meaning is just lost to us. It can’t really mean what it says, right?

I can blame the world. Maybe I do agree with what the Bible says, but I don’t want to think about how this applies to me. I’d rather make it abstract. I’d rather look to the world and see what’s wrong around me. Let’s talk about that ugliness. Yes, anything I can do to distract myself from holding a mirror up to my own life. If I look “out there” I don’t have to look “in me.”

I can blame the messenger. The speaker or the author is an easy scapegoat. If I can find just one little point I disagree on, one small point of emphasis he/she didn’t highlight, let’s blow that up to discredit everything else that was said. I’m sure if I got in touch with the author or speaker, they would provide clarification. I’m sure they had more to say than what that small article highlighted or what that 40 minute message provided. But why would I call them up to seek more of their thoughts? I like the position I’m in. Stick to what was insufficient. Linger over what was missing. If I can keep the attention there, I’m safe from change. My sin stays hidden. Yes, as a principle, ignore the 99% of truth and focus on the 1% that was wrong. I’ve kind of mastered this, I confess. I know how to sound smart and intelligent and righteous and godly by my critiques. None of this “Do more than read the Bible. Let the Bible read me” kind of talk. No, that would mean allowing the Bible to place the blame on me. But I love the darkness and that would bring me to light. That would force me to change.

If you’re looking for a Boston church to call him, we’d love for you to visit King’s Hill.