Now Let’s Solve the Problem!

The blame game does little to help solve a problem, and many times it makes things much worse.

Fred was starting to get anxious. He had a presentation to give in 15 minutes, and the slide show that he was going to use wasn’t working. It had been working fine on his laptop, then, kaput! When he tried the slide show on this other laptop, the pictures weren’t showing up.

Turning around, he saw Michael walking toward him. Michael had helped him design the slide show earlier in the week and had been the one to save it to the flash drive.

“Michael,” Fred snapped, “next time you save a slide show, save it right! Thanks to you, I can’t get the pictures to show up!”

Michael bit his lip as he started to reply, then walked toward the laptop. After about five minutes, he managed to figure out that the settings on this laptop were different from the ones that the project had been saved on. In a matter of seconds, he had the problem fixed.

We’ve got a problem!

Problems happen. Most of us have already figured that one out. If you’re going to live, you’re going to have some problems along the way. But what do you do when those problems occur?

Each type of problem has its own type of solution. However, most of those solutions involve staying calm, being understanding, thinking your way through it and being patient. If you don’t apply any of these to a crisis, then it will likely get worse.

Often when a problem occurs and we get past the initial panic reaction, people set to work on solving the problem. However, every now and then when there’s pressure involved, our human nature kicks in and we resort to another way of handling the problem: blaming everyone involved but ourselves.

The blame game

When the pressure’s on, people often resort to the age-old tactic of blaming somebody else. This characteristic of human nature has shown itself countless times ever since the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:12-13). Instead of trying to solve the problem, we waste precious time and energy trying to ensure that we’re not blamed for the error when it’s beyond repair.

Often the blame game continues, as accusations fly back and forth, with each person informing whoever will listen that someone else was to blame for the error.

However, a Christian is not to be that way. Whenever problems come our way, we should bear the consequences instead of trying to pass them on to somebody else. In 1 Peter 2:18-20, Peter tells us that we are to accept not only the blame we deserve, but even to patiently suffer wrongfully if necessary.

Problem solvers!

Playing the blame game is bad whenever we participate, but it is even worse when the problem could have been fixed, but instead precious time was spent blaming others. Like the example mentioned at the beginning, blaming somebody else for the problem only delays finding the solution. Sometimes we can be so busy blaming each other that the solution doesn’t come in time.

Sometimes the problem isn’t even anybody’s fault. Things do just happen. How do you blame somebody for a tsunami or a tornado? What about the economy? Sometimes there are legitimate reasons that people should be held responsible for problems, but discernment must be used in determining when this should and should not be done.

Like Michael, we need to avoid participating in the blame game, get our acts together and solve the problem. If we ever find ourselves involved in the blame game, we should instantly stop playing, look at the problem again and start working on a solution.

Solutions don’t come while we hold each other responsible for all the problems of the world. First, we must stop blaming each other. Then we can solve the problem.

Joshua Travers is a high school senior who attends the Athens, Ohio, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association. He enjoys writing and reading.

See previous posts by Joshua Travers:

• Where True Leadership Starts
• Guns, Germs and God