Deflection—the Bad and the Good

Familiar these days is the tendency among the guilty to deflect the blame anywhere but toward themselves. Some plead of ignorance or misunderstanding; some accuse others; some declare, “I had no choice,” or “So-and-so made me do it.”

This practice of blame-shifting is not just common in the 21^st century. Not hardly. In fact, it’s been going on since the beginning of earthly time. Remember what Adam’s defense was when God confronted him with his sin? God asked him directly, “Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (Genesis 3:11b, ESV).

Sounds like a simple yes-or-no answer to me. But, “The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate’” (Genesis 3:12, ESV).

Now technically speaking, there was nothing untrue about what Adam said, but notice the order in which he said it. First, he blames God, “reminding” Him that it was He who created Eve in the first place. Next he blames the woman for giving him the fruit. Only then does he confess, “I ate.”

And lest we women out there start getting all high-and-mighty, let’s not forget what Eve’s response to God was when He asked her point-blank, “‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate’” (Genesis 3:13, ESV). Again, a technically true statement but an obvious deflection nonetheless.

Ever since our original ancestors spoke these words, we their descendants have followed in their footsteps. We have perfected the diabolical art of evading responsibility—except, that is, when it comes to accepting praise rather than blame.

Just as we are quick to try to deflect guilt by casting blame away from ourselves, so we are quick to welcome adulation when anything goes right—even if we don’t actually deserve the credit. But one God-follower whose life is recorded in Scripture gives us a wonderful example of deflection of a positive sort.

Let’s take a look at a day in the life of Daniel…

Daniel was a Jew who had been taken to Babylon when his homeland had been invaded by the kingdom from the east. Earlier in his life, he had made a courageous stand with three of his friends to stay true to his convictions and not partake of the sumptuous food given him in the royal training program in which he had been enlisted. This wise decision resulted in his being of better appearance than his peers, and, at the end of his training he and his friends were reckoned as “ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in the kingdom” because of the “learning and skill” God had given them (See Daniel 1).  

That brings us to the day in question when Daniel is taken before Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon who has recently decreed that all the kingdom’s wise men (of whom Daniel was one) be put to death for failing both to identify and to interpret the king’s disturbing dream. Daniel and his three friends have sought the Lord upon learning of this decree, and God has answered their prayers by making known to Daniel the contents of the dream and its meaning (See Daniel 2:1-25).

We meet up with Daniel as he is standing before King Nebuchadnezzar…

“The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, ‘Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?’” (Daniel 2:26, ESV)

If you were Daniel and you had been asked this question, knowing that previous answers of “no” had elicited an angry death-decree from the imposing regent, how would you have answered? I don’t know about you, but I probably would have quickly answered in the affirmative: “Yes, O king, I can.”

If Daniel had answered that way, he would have been technically truthful, just as Adam and Eve were in their responses to God in Eden. After all, he did, at that point in time, possess the ability to meet the king’s demand. But was that ability intrinsically his? Not even close. Daniel recognized this and was quick to deflect the credit to whom it was due:

“Daniel answered the king and said, ‘No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days . . .” (Daniel 2:27-28a, ESV, emphasis added).

Daniel went on to describe and interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and the king’s response is striking. Granted, he did “pay homage” to Daniel, but he, a pagan ruler, also “answered and said to Daniel, ‘Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery’” (Daniel 2:47, ESV).

Daniel’s good deflection, then, resulted in God’s receiving praise not only from Daniel’s initial statement but also from Nebuchadnezzar’s response.

So what’s our takeaway from this tale of two deflections?  First, and probably most familiarly, we should avoid blame-shifting and own up to our own errors and sin. But another reminder we don’t hear nearly as often is that we should be faithful to point the praise in the right direction too, namely to God and away from ourselves. After all, isn’t everything we have from Him?

Let’s learn to turn incoming compliments into moments of opportunity to share the glory, goodness, and grace of God. Let’s strive to seek after God to the point where His physical provisions and spiritual blessings are so evident to us that we can’t help but give Him the credit for all we have. In short, let’s be Daniels instead of Adams and Eves.