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THE CONNERY KEY: FIX THE PROBLEM, NOT THE BLAME
In the movie RISING SUN, the main character, played by Sean Connery, makes a stunning observation about the difference between the Japanese and American approaches to problem solving. "The Japanese have a saying, 'Fix the problem, not the blame.' Find out what's f•••ed up and fix it. Nobody gets blamed. We're always after who f•••ed up. Their way is better." This dynamic insight is what I now want to label THE CONNERY KEY. I love Sean Connery because he has a way of delivering profound truth in the manliest and most kingly tones I have ever heard.
Beloved, we soooo need to apply THE CONNERY KEY to the Spirit realm. Both Satan and mankind ALWAYS focus on assigning blame. He did it. She did it. They did it. It's my fault, their fault, our fault, it's everybody's fault. Or, on the flip side, we spend all our energy DENYING RESPONSIBILITY. It's NOT my fault, NOT our fault, NOT their fault, etc. And all the while, the problem never gets fixed, never gets transformed and the glory of the Lord NEVER gets revealed.
In John 9, Jesus encounters a pitiful man born blind. The religious leaders of the day challenged Jesus to explain who was to BLAME for the man's condition. Was it the sin of his parents? Was it his own sin? Whose sin caused his blindness? Jesus, in the nuance of the original Greek text, rebukes these insane questions as follows, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned to cause this blindness, NEVERTHELESS LET THE GLORY OF GOD BE REVEALED!" In other words, stop blaming and start believing.
Do you see? Jesus fixed the problem, not the blame. He came to FIX us, not to BLAME us. Jesus came to save the woman caught in adultery, not to condemn her. In fact, after His protective presence dispersed all her accusers, Jesus specifically told the woman that He did NOT condemn her. He came to deliver her from her sin, not to blame her for it.
Jesus didn't waste time by identifying WHY certain demons were afflicting certain men in certain ways at certain times. He was too busy CASTING THEM OUT to waste time by playing the blame game. Cause is irrelevant to a God who delivers to the uttermost. The ancient Spartans never asked HOW MANY the enemy were or WHY the enemy was hostile. The Spartans instead asked one thing only: WHERE IS THE ENEMY? Their one focus was to eradicate the enemy problem.
What would a world without blame look like? In a word, Heaven. Man once walked blameless with God in the Garden of Eden. But, in the wake of their sin, Adam blamed God and Eve ("It was the WOMAN that YOU gave me. SHE gave me the fruit and I ate"). Eve blamed Satan ("The Serpent deceived me"). And we have been assigning blame ever since.
But God promises something better for us. In Isaiah 58:8-9, the prophet promises that our "light shall break forth as the morning, and our health shall spring forth speedily: and our righteousness shall go before us; the glory if the Lord shall be our rereward" BUT ONLY WHEN AND IF WE "take away from our midst the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity." In other words, all will be well when we stop pointing the finger of blame, condemnation and accusation at each other.
Here is the issue. The blame game always replaces belief in God. Blame evicts belief. Blame extinguishes belief, diminishes it, douses it. Satan's main weapons are accusation, legalism and condemnation, "blame" in other words. We empower Satan when we drink these same deadly poisons. They fill us with venom toward each other and doubt in the saving power of God.
In contrast, Jesus' main weapon is DEMONSTRATION: He OPENLY demonstrates Spirit, power and love. He demonstrates the Kingdom of God through VISIBLE manifestations of miracles, healings, deliverances, and heart-changing words of life (Matthew 8:16; 9:33; 10:8; Luke 9:2; 10:9; Mark 6:16-19; 1 Corinthians 2:4; Acts 10:38). These passages confirm THE CONNERY KEY: JESUS DOESN'T WASTE TIME BLAMING AND CONDEMNING: INSTEAD, JESUS FIXES THE FREAKING THING!
Jesus is the "stronger man" who first enters Satan's house of pain, shame and blame. Then, Jesus BINDS Satan and SPOILS his goods and his house (Matthew 12:28-29). We must focus always on this STRONGER image of God, strongER than Satan, strongER than circumstance, strongER then death, disaster, doubt and disease. If we do, then our wicked need to blame, condemn and accuse will stop---- AND THE GLORY OF GOD WILL BE REVEALED!
