Scapegoats (Part I of III)
Nero was the Emperor of the Roman Empire from 54 A.D. to 68 A.D. History has, for the most part, put the blame for the massive fire in Rome during Nero’s reign at the feet of — Nero. Nero loved to construct buildings and many historians believe that Nero had buildings torched so new ones could replace them. But things got out of hand and large sections of Rome were burned. Not wanting to take responsibility, Nero blamed a relatively new religious group who called themselves Christians. A massive and violent persecution against Christians ensued because Nero needed someone to blame for the fire in Rome. Nero needed a scapegoat. During the 1930’s there was an almost total collapse of all the world’s economies, resulting in staggering business failures, massive unemployment, and incredible hardships on families and individuals. Homes were repossessed, farms were foreclosed, banks failed with folks losing their life savings.
In Germany, the politicians needed to blame someone for this massive economic blow-up and so they blamed the Jews. Small persecutions of Jewish businesses and Jewish bankers grew more and more frequent and harsher and harsher in tone and action. Soon, any Jew was fair game for any kind of cruel treatment - including death. Before this drama would finally end in 1945, over six million Jews - men, women, and children - would die; 1/2 of all Jews in Europe, 1/3 of all Jews in total. But Germany needed a scapegoat.
For a hundred years and more after the American War Between the States, being black in the deep South meant living in fear for the safety of yourself, or even your family. If there was a robbery, a murder, a rape, or some other crime, and a black man was a suspect, many times he was quickly hung by his neck. No trial. No testimony. During this time, black men were routinely brutalized for almost any reason. Times, thank the good Lord, have changed, but I am certain many black men felt like scapegoats while growing up and living during this time in the deep South.
Are you quick to blame others when things go wrong? From the beginning of civilization, human beings have always needed scapegoats.
Genesis 3:8-13, The man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” And God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?
Then the man said, “The woman whom You put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Next time: Accepting responsibility for our sin, considered, in part II of “Scapegoats.”
----------------- Like on Facebook: firstchristianchurchdonnatexas. --------------- Chris Voss is a pastor at First Christian Church, 317 S. Main, Donna.