Children’s Games

By A. C. Quinn

    Among the games children play, especially when they are desperately attempting to escape the retribution of parents or others in authority, is the blame game. The object of this game is for the child to somehow place the responsibility for his unacceptable words or deeds on someone else, freeing himself from whatever the consequences may be. “He did it,” or “She did it” are the oft heard refrains.
    Tragically, it is not just children who play the blame game. Many adults play it. It is so sad but true, too many members of the church play the same childish game in a feeble attempt to dodge their duties and obligations to the Lord’s church where they worship.
    Some church members who do not attend services regularly blame their spasmodic attendance on hypocrites. They cannot bear sitting beside a hypocrite in the house of worship, and truly, the church does have its hypocrites. One has to wonder, however, about the sincerity of this rational, and when he does, he will ask some serious questions: “Are there no hypocrites in the restaurants and other retail businesses folks frequently patronize?” “Do hypocrites not attend sporting events--baseball, football, soccer, etc?”
It would appear that one so repulsed by hypocrites in the church would be equally repulsed by them at other events, but that appears not to be the case at all.
    Christians should be disgusted with hypocrites, but they should not allow them to become the stumbling block which hinders them from doing their duty. In fact, all should realize that hell will have a sizeable population of hypocrites, and there will not be any special seating arrangements for the self-righteous who want to avoid them.

- A. C. Quinn preaches for the West Main Church of Christ in Wolfe City, Texas. He may be contacted at acuen30@gmail.com