The Real Scapegoat
When I was living a life full of selfish desires and a believer questioned my lifestyle, my first response was, “Who are you to judge?!” or “Who that is without sin may cast the first stone!” Basically, I used their belief against them in order to evade the truth that they spoke. It was an attempt at making them the scapegoat for my sin. This scripture was front and center in my life:
Romans 1:21-25 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
The fact is, I played a dangerous game of evading because the pride of life does not like wrongdoing to be revealed. The challenge is that my pride and self-serving ideologies did not make the truth all of a sudden untruth. It was merely scapegoating to keep myself puffed up and feeling ok in my sin – turning the truth into a lie. The problem with this is that I was holding onto the lie (the sin). It’s an attempt to remove my sin from the spotlight so I could feel better.
What is found in the midst of this is a portion of the gospel at work. My conscience bared witness to the truth and it made me uncomfortable. It did not feel good to be revealed, thus I glorified Him not as God, but became vain in my imaginations. My heart was darkened and was blinded by stinking pride. When truthfully examined, I wanted this feeling taken away. The only way I knew how to do this was to make someone else the problem. It’s evading, scapegoating.. It’s a redirection tactic to take the sin and try to make it the problem of someone else. This is exactly what I am attempting in such a situation -
Leviticus 16:8-10 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
It is an attempt to get rid of my sin by making someone else the scapegoat. It goes like this in my member: The truth of God hits, it’s uncomfortable, there is a need to eliminate this uncomfortable feeling, and I play the evading game by making another person or circumstance the scapegoat. “He/She made me…”, “Well, if this thing would not have happened..”, “You’re just acting all holier than thou!”, “Judge not!”, “Who is without sin may cast the first stone!”.. or, in simpler/more accurate terms: “I chose to act in this manner and instead of confessing my wrongdoing (humility/agreement with God), I’m scapegoating/evading the truth (pride/disagreement with God).” The problem with this is that it’s deception at its finest. I’m trying to cover my sin by using justifications v. agreement with the truth. We end up deceiving ourselves. We are trying to cover our sin through deceptive means. This is an internal spiritual response to the Light hitting our darkened areas, but we end up trying to atone for our wicked wrongdoings ourselves by hiding it and making someone else/something else the scapegoat.
There is only one Real Scapegoat.. His name is Jesus Christ. This Scapegoat takes our sin and replaces it with His Righteousness. The real Scapegoat has taken the sin -
John 1:29 The next day John seen Jesus coming unto him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.
Reader, if you believe in God, please examine yourself. Our pride will deceive us. I’ve done it, many others have done it, and Jesus has healed us of our blindness. There is a point of breaking through the pride and being humble.. being truthful. When we think we are above this and/or we think we are not partaking in this lie, we are blinded. Ask Christ to help with the correct vision. It takes humility.
In summary, God is Light. The Light is Truth. The Truth has been revealed in the Word of God/Jesus Christ. When the Light hits our darkness, it doesn’t feel good. At this moment, we want this not-so-good-feeling taken away, thus we must take action to cover it. We can only choose 1 of 2 paths to appease the conscience:
- Disagree with the Light – Remaining blind, full of self, pride, etc. We ultimately end in an attempt to fulfill the gospel ourselves by making someone else or something else the scapegoat. Fully evading the real Truth of the matter, which is the fact that we have incorrectly exercised our free will.
- Agree with the Light – Humbling ourselves, confessing and repenting of our sins, and trusting in Jesus as our Scapegoat.
1 John 1:5-10 This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and are not in the truth: But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
I highly recommend this book – The People of the Lie. –
A predominant characteristic of the behavior of those I call evil is scapegoating. Because in their hearts, they consider themselves above reproach, they must lash out at anyone who does reproach them. They sacrifice others to preserve their self-image of perfection. The evil do not serenely bear the trial of being displeasing to themselves. In fact, they don’t bear it at all. And it is out of their failure to put themselves on trial that their evil arises. – M. Scott Peck
Categories: Teachings Tags: Jesus Christ, life, sin
Eating Liver is a Sin
Yesterday I heard a message from a Pastor and it dawned on me, I hate eating liver. It’s gross and nasty. If all of the liver disappeared from the store shelves for the rest of my life, I think I would crack a smile. I really don’t like it. Did I mention I hate it? Ya, I did. I really dislike it.. a lot.
Eating liver has taken place many times in my life. It looks good when cooked, it smells fantastic, and that all familiar pleasing sound from friends and family, “..but you haven’t tried MY liver, I make a great liver!” It always ended the same, “Eww! Why did I do that?!?”
Now, I’m to the point in life where I won’t even try liver. You can make it look great with the onions, it can fill my nose with that great aroma, and you can tell me how great your recipe is, and I will not try it. Pile bacon on it, bread it, deep fry it, make it Cajun style, and put every spice in the world on it, and you will not deceive me. I just won’t partake in tasting liver again. I learned the lesson of liver and I do not plan to retake the liver test. Do you want to know another thing I hate more than liver? Sin…
Categories: Testimonies Tags: sin
God is not a Toy
A brother over at Anointed Place posted a great writing that I wanted to share. God is Holy behind anything we can comprehend with our finite minds. God is not like us and He is set apart. I for one need more respect in prayer and how I handle things of God. As well as paying more attention to reverence and the fear of the Lord. God is not a toy.. I pray this blesses you -
Light Burns Sin
The Light of God Reveals Sin
In my experiences of life, Truth can be likened to a powerful light when it hits sin. It burns. Light will always cause a feeling of discomfort on sin, and we don’t like that burning sensation on our conscience. I should rephrase that.. the flesh doesn’t like the burning sensation. Why? Well, from the view of the flesh, we are all about appearance and setting ourselves up on pedestals. (Egoism, humanism, pride, etc). That’s why we sin. But when light burns sin, what it is really doing is revealing the darkness (sin) openly. It is no longer hidden, and we are uncovered (naked). Thus, we want to reach for some fig leaves and cover our sin. Light reveals sin in our life, and our flesh hates it. It hates it so much, that it wants to get hidden again and exit the light. Here are some typical tactics that I have learned of the flesh pertaining to hiding from the light and concealing sin -
Categories: Misc. Ramblings Tags: God, Jesus, life, sin
Walking with the Lord
Walking with the Lord – After praying and seeking out the Lord, here is a follow-up to a recent post – Choosing Freedom over Slavery. I covet your prayers, encouragement and any insight.
Over the past day or so, I have received guidance related to walking with the Lord. The Lord is showing me that I’m not always walking with Him. I’m hearing (He’s always speaking), but I’m not always doing. Lord: “Pick up your mat and walk” – No walking. Lord: “Go wash your eyes in the pool and see” – No walking. Lord: “Go show your healing of leprosy to the priest” – No walking. “Don’t go there” – I keep walking. Choosing to hear the Lord but no action. Thank you Helper for teaching me. Here’s a few related verses -
What are you and God working out?
I always say something like this to friends while I keep involving myself in a struggle with God: “Ya, I’m struggling with this, but God is working with me on it. We are working it out.”
The other day, this all changed. A Pastor said: “What exactly is it that you’re working out with God? He has already worked it out.” After dwelling on this, something serious was revealed -
Categories: Misc. Ramblings, Teachings Tags: believe, Choice, Faith, God, obedience, sin, stiff-necked, surrender
God hates sin but loves the sinner
This morning, I woke up and was thinking about this statement. Does God hate sin? Yes, we all know this and agree with it. It is an abomination to the Lord. He cannot face sin. When we get into the “..but loves the sinner” part, we have to be very careful of how it is used.
This comment is, in my opinion, used too loosely nowadays. It is not found any where in the bible, but many believers use the phrase. We have to look at the motive and our personal thoughts behind the reason why this phrase is used. If it’s used in the correct context and explained as it is used, then praise God! If it is used as a justifying statement, something should be reconsidered. Let me explain further -
Categories: Misc. Ramblings, Teachings, Testimonies Tags: God, Jesus, propitiation, sin, Teaching