The Art of Making Excuses

Accountability

There once was a man who made a great supper and invited many friends.  When everything was ready he sent his servant to gather his friends.  But instead of coming, his friends began to make excuses. 

The first friend said, I have bought some land and I need to go and see it. Please excuse me.

And another said, I have bought some animals and I need to go and get them.  Please excuse me.

And another said, I got married and we can't make it.

So the servant returns and tells his master what the friends said. The master becomes angry and tells the servant, Go out into the streets and invite the poor, the hurt, the lame, and the blind.

The servant does as his master ordered and returns.  He says, Master, I invited those you wanted me too and there is still room. 

The master tells the servant, Go out in the streets and pathways and urge them to come in so that the house will be filled.

The master finishes with, None of the friends that were sent for shall taste of this supper.

Does this story sound familiar?  It is based on a parable that Jesus taught in the house of the Pharisee (Luke 14:16-24).  I think it should be called the Lame Excuses Parable.

The part of the story that caught my attention is the excuses that the friends make.  Have you ever been like the friends and made up an excuse to get out of something? (Guilty as charged!)  Or maybe you have been in the position of the master and have been stood up by people with lame excuses. (I hate that!)

What is it about us that creates the need to make excuses? 

It all starts when we are children.  I can remember my mother coming into the room after hearing some noise that was obviously not good and asking what happened. My mind quickly came up with some excuse that would take the blame off of me.  Even better, I think of all the times my parents asked me why I didn't do something they asked me to do and I came up with the brilliant excuse, I forgot! 

I have to admit that there are some times when I giggle at the many creative ways that people try to get out of their responsibilities. There are some people that have taken excuse making to a new level. They have mastered the art of making excuses.  Then there are those that obviously haven't thought it through, these provide us with a bit of entertainment: 

church excuse: I can't go to church, church gives me gas! (what?)

  

work excuse: My dog has a rash all over, and the vet closes early today.

diet excuse: If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, the calories in the candy bar are canceled out by the diet soda.

While these excuses are entertaining, the real reason we make excuses is that we want to avoid the consequences.

We all face a lifetime of learning about the consequences that come with the choices we make. We relish in the pleasant consequences and endure through the extremely painful ones. And yes, there are time we are all guilty of trying to avoid the consequences.

 
Facing the consequences means we have to take accountability for our choices, and that can be difficult sometimes, especially in today's world.  Accountability means not only taking responsibility for how our actions have affected other people, but how they affect our relationship with God. The Lord has said that all people are responsible for their own motives, attitudes, desires, and actions. How are we applying that principle to ourselves?

Today we live in a world where the teachings of the scriptures are being mocked, ignored, and rejected by many in society. Instead of living life with the knowledge that we will be accountable to God, many people are seeking to make God accountable to them for their comfort and pleasure. They choose to live their lives by doing what is right in their own eyes. The prevailing attitude is 'Do your own thing. Whatever makes you happy. You are only accountable to yourself.' Where has this ideology left us?

This shift from a God-centered perspective in life to a man-centered perspective permeates all levels of society. We see the repercussions of this shift daily in the articles of the newspapers, magazines, Internet sites, and television programs we view. The headlines include attacks on the sacredness of marriage, crimes that are committed when selfishness overtakes selflessness, and the suffering of those less fortunate whom society has turned their back on. Sadly, we find this 'Do your own thing' attitude in our schools, communities, among our leaders, and even in our homes. The world is full of victims who fell prey to the enticings of the 'Do your own thing' mantra. 

 
What would change in society if instead of 'do your own thing' we would teach the proverb: 'Don't do what you'll have to find an excuse for'?  The problem is that we live in a society that has become very individualistic. One author stated, "The prevailing attitude is be your own man or woman, do your own thing, be your own boss, and often this attitude is promoted or stated in a way that undermines accountability to God and others. The scriptures in no way denies our individualism. Indeed, it promotes it, but in a way that holds us each accountable to others. Proper individualism leads to a certain amount of inventiveness, ingenuity, and freedom, but it can also breed license and irresponsibility without accountability. The fact is you can’t make disciples or produce growing and mature Christians without accountability. Accountability is one of the means God uses to bring about solid growth and maturity so that we can become what God has created us for."

With that in mind, let's go back to our parable and see what can happen if we never outgrow our excuse making stage.  Jesus does not explain the meaning of this parable, so we are left on our own. Here are some thoughts I had about it:

The great supper in the parable could represent the invitation of salvation that God extends to us and the future blessings we could have.  Who wouldn't want to experience that?

God wants all to be saved (1 Tim 2:3-6; Tit 2:11; 2 Pet 3:9). Sadly, not everyone who is invited will accept, some will instead make excuses. The excuses may involve things within themselves that are noble like; business responsibilities or family responsibilities.  The problem is that the priorities are misplaced and earthly matters are allowed to take priority over spiritual matters.

Many in the church make excuses for not serving the Lord as they should, yet with a spirit of self-righteousness they expect to be "guests at the great supper".  In the end, it won't be those that have mastered the art of making excuses that will be seated at the great supper, but the humble, faithful servants, that made their 'do your own thing' whatever God wanted it to be. I would prefer to be seated at the great supper rather than be left out because of lame excuses. Where would you like to be?