Responsibility Trampled Upon Again

I was at work Friday afternoon when I heard that an employee at a Walmart in New York State had been trampled to death. One of my co-workers told myself and another person that it had happened. I had been asked just two days before on Wednesday evening by a friend if I had planned to do any "Black Friday" shopping. I had told him no, and had added in all seriousness that here where I live, "ladies charge the doors," and that I wasn't interested.


When my co-worker told us, my initial reaction was only brief surprise followed by a mixture of disgust and anger. I said, "I hope those folks were all happy to save ten bucks."


If that sounds harsh, my co-workers shared the same sensibility. It is easy to point fingers when judging the actions of others. Yet, I am continually amazed at the human capacity for blame-shifting. I have seen the legal commentaries just this evening. Basically they are saying that the responsibility for this tragedy belongs squarely on the shoulders of Walmart. My question is why?


Did Walmart provoke this behavior? It will be argued that it did. Is Walmart responsible to anticipate that there would be an unstable crowd control factor? It will so be argued. My problem with that kind of thinking is-- so what?


Who is responsible for the actions of the people who were so covetous, so greedy, so competative and so cheap, that they scrambled like hungry chickens to peck the feed? The answer is, every single person who charged those doors is responsible for doing so. They would appear to me to be complicit in the death of this thirty-four year old young man.


I can recall sharing with plenty of folks who do not think that they have any responsibility for their actions. They disavow any responsibility for their sin. They blame-shift. They often shift the blame even to God. "He made me this way." "He allowed this to happen." Or, they make Him a partner in the crime, "He understands. He knows we're only human."


It should come as no surprise. I have been guilty of it myself in the past. Blame-shifting started very early in mankind's history, "And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. " Genesis 3:12


This trend has grown in our society. It has been fueled by the public examples of different types of leadership, from law enforcement officials, from the world of politics and from within the body of Christ as well. The "no apology apology" seems to be the order of the day. Politicians have teams of professional PR advisors who word what they say for purposes of face-saving and damage control. Godly people who should know better, often seem well-skilled at the art of the "no apology apology" from an early age. The actual offense itself is not actually apologized for. They basically say something like, "I'm sorry that this happened. I hope that we can have healing. I covet your prayers etc. etc.... ad infinitum. What they don't do is say, "I did this, and I am responsible for it. I am truly sorry, and I ask for your forgiveness. That would be very refreshing. Politicians I get, but Christians? We need to apologize not only to God, but to those whom we've let down. Those whom we have injured.


I have friends who truly apologize when they do something wrong to me. Over the years they have touched my prideful heart, and I have learned how to apologize properly too. It says so much to other people. I know of one gentleman at my church who is now in the body because another Christian man apologized to him. He flat out told him that he became curious about Christianity because this Christian man accepted responsibility for his action, and then actually apologized to him.


Blowing off what we do to others as, 'not that big a deal', and thinking in our hearts, "Oh he or she will get over it and forgive me" is the sort of thing I hope I am well-past in my growth, and at least I know what to look for. My own responsibility for what I do is something I really want to own, because though I may fall on my face and sin, I know that I can get up and that a loving Savior has washed the dirt of my sin off of me with His blood. The very least I can do is own up to the fact that I have done something wrong and repent of it and apologize for it.