Responsibility

I just read this today in my daily reading:

Exodus 32:

1When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, "Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." 2So Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." 3So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden[a] calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" 5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD." 6And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

Later on we see:

21And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?" 22And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23For they said to me, 'Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' 24So I said to them, 'Let any who have gold take it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."

I think this may be the greatest cop-out in history. And yet God was gracious enough to establish the priesthood through Aaron.

I also am reminded of how much I can be like Aaron. It's so much easier to deny responsibility for something even though it is clear that we are the ones to blame. Our society fosters this too. For example, the Florida teacher who had sex with one of her students is blaming her bipolar disorder instead of accepting responsibility for it. Psychology in general tries to help us see what thing in our past shapes us so that we don't have to take responsibility for our actions. Does that mean I can start holding up liquor stores because my mom was drunk a lot when I was growing up?

As I consider this whole issue I realize just how difficult it is to accept responsibility for what I do. We all mess up from time to time. And I love the promise in James where we're told that "He gives more grace". I just know that I need plenty from those around me as well.