The following verses from Malachi perfectly illustrate the mentality of the wicked who have crept into the visible church. They are never to blame. Someone else is always guilty, not them. In this case, they are blaming God Himself. Read the verses and then we will think further about how this denial of culpability is prevalent in professing Christian churches today:
“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” (Malachi 1:2-3)
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the LORD’s table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts. And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 1:6-9)
And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. (Malachi 2:13-14)
“Look at the mess we are in. Crops are failing. Rains aren’t coming. Enemies rising against us. Why? Where is God? He is supposed to be blessing us. This is all His fault.”
And they have the audacity to even say this to God’s face. Directly accusing Him.
Weep. Groan. Pity party.
The truth of the matter was that God was being absolutely true to His covenant Word. These people whom He had set His love upon now despised Him. So much so that these “offerings” they boasted about were second and third rate. Defective stock that no one else wanted. “Let’s donate it to the church then.” “Ok, Lord, now you have to bless us.”
If that were not enough, they regularly and even typically broke their marriage covenant. Adulterers. Revilers against the wife of their youth. Oh, not in “church” of course, but in everyday life. In secret. But God saw it all.
In spite of their obvious guilt, they refused to admit it. They blamed God. The problem was with God. God was the one. Point finger. Accuse. That is what revilers do, you know. They vilify others. They even make God the villain ultimately. Poor them.
I have met many such people hiding in the ranks of the visible church. Many. Nothing is ever their fault. Oh, they might own up to some small thing just to make it look like they are repentant, but keep pressing them and you will see that they remain blame-casters. Make no mistake now. We are not talking about people who are the typical sinner, the unsaved who in their sin put off confessing their lost condition and their need of Christ. No. We are speaking here of people like these “covenant” people of God in Malachi’s day who openly boast about being “the chosen.” People who claim to be Christians and who even put themselves off as eminently holy saints. All the while however, they walk in the paths of evil. Abusers, revilers, swindlers, liars. All dressed in deceptive garments of wool.
It is long, long past time for us in the church to cease being deceived by these deceivers. When victims of their evil come forward and seek our aid, we must not be taken in by the often smooth excuses of the wicked. And we must expect something else when we stand against them, calling them out for their lying perversions of the truth. We must expect them to start blaming us. You will find yourself suddenly painted as the guilty one. It’s all your fault now. No matter how much factual evidence you put before him. No matter. It’s not his fault.
Remove that wicked one from among you. Stop trying to “redeem” him. Cease thinking that you can help “fix” him. That is not how the Lord instructs us to deal with such a person and to set out on some course of “counseling and therapy” with such a one is to flagrantly refuse to obey the Lord:
And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. (1 Corinthians 5:2)