Who’s to Blame?

Luke 17:1-2 - And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.”

I am sure there has been a time in your life that another person influenced you to make a bad decision. Perhaps you were a teen deciding whether or not to go to a party where there would be alcohol. Perhaps a friend egged you on to sneak out of your house at night. It may have been a coworker who encouraged you to fudge some numbers. So many times, a person is wrestling internally, trying to decide what to do when real consequences are at stake. In those occasions an encouraging voice from someone you think you can trust saying, “It’s OK. Everyone does it. It won’t hurt,” is all it takes to push you to do the “wrong” thing.

Who is to blame in those circumstances? You made the choice. Is it your responsibility? What about the person who encouraged you? You may not have gone that way had your friend not said, “Go ahead. I am with you.”

In reading the Bible as a whole, there is no question we are responsible for our own decisions. “The devil made me do it” is not a legitimate excuse. However, in this passage, Jesus clearly puts part of the responsibility on the one who does the tempting – causing another to sin – being the source of the scandalon (stumbling block). Jesus’s graphic depiction of being thrown into the sea tied down by a heavy stone makes it clear judgment awaits those who lead others astray.

Jesus’ message is that temptation is inevitable, but our participation in it is not. We do not have to sin, and we do not have to cause others to sin. We are responsible to one another. Our words and actions can build up or destroy another person. Let’s give life, build faith, and encourage good actions in others.