Kasey Hitt, MDiv, CSD
  • Home
  • About
  • Offerings
    • Spiritual Direction
    • Dreamwork
    • Reiki
    • Silent Retreats
    • Groups & Seminars
  • Schedule/Pay
  • Events
    • Sign up for E-news
    • Register & Pay for Events
  • Writing
    • Blog
    • Prayers
    • Liturgical Year >
      • Advent Audio Divina
      • Advent Guided Prayer
      • Longest Night Service
      • Lent
    • Video & Audio
    • Retreatants Only
  • Resources
    • Quotes
    • Links
    • Recommended Reading
  • More
    • What Others Are Saying
    • Spiritual Direction Disclosure Form
    • Reiki Client Information Form
    • Common Questions & Answers
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

Scapegoating: How Long Will We Continue to Do It?

9/23/2020

 
Picture
It’s what we tend to do.  Most Christians have an entire theology built on it.  Someone/something must pay for others’ sins. 
 
Sin is burdensome, whether it’s our own or the world’s!

It can’t be ignored (at least not forever).  If ignored, it will still be felt in our physical bodies or relationships.  The more it's ignored, the greater the natural consequences from the unacknowledged harm to ourselves, others, and/or the created world.  So it’s no surprise that people have been trying to figure out what to do with the problem of sin for millennia.
 
We are a ritualistic people.  In Leviticus 16 found in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), it was a ritual with an actual goat (hence the term, “scapegoat”) that helped relieve the communal burden.  The impurities of the community were transferred to the goat through the “laying on of hands.” Then the goat was beaten and released into the wilderness to take away the sins of the Israelite people.  The despised goat symbolically took on their sins and carried them away from the community.  In the New Testament, the writer of the book of John records John the Baptist pointing out the role of the scapegoat being taken on by Jesus when he proclaims, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." 
 
It’s human nature to look for a scapegoat, especially when we do not want to or do not know how to deal with sin.  Watching small children (as well as our current politicians) will make that apparent quite quickly.  Their mantra: "Make it someone else’s fault!" 
 
It’s especially natural if we’ve grown up with a theology that espouses it.  It’s too easy to believe that when Jesus takes away my sin, I no longer have to deal with it or the consequences of it (someone else has paid the ultimate price after all).  The danger of this theology is that it can shift the focus to worshipping Jesus because of his offering of “fire insurance” for the life to come rather than following Jesus as a disciple in this one.
 
If we happen to be Christians who believe Jesus paid the price as the ultimate scapegoat (which made him the last needed scapegoat), why do we still continue to scapegoat others?—Democrats, Republicans, Black people, Indigenous people, White people, LGBTQ people, police officers, protestors, teachers, certain members of our families…
 
If Jesus is the ultimate scapegoat, that means we are now freed from scapegoating others! 

We are a ritualistic people in need of a new ritual.  If we don’t have anyone to blame or transfer our sin to, what happens next?


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Kasey is a scarf, ball and club juggling spiritual director just outside of Nashville, TN.  Play helps her Type-A, Enneagram 1 personality relax, creating space for poetry and other words to emerge. She also likes playing with theological ideas like perichoresis, and all the ways we're invited into this Triune dance.  

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016

    Categories

    All
    Advent
    Anger
    Atonement
    Awareness Examen
    Beauty
    Body Of Christ
    Centering Prayer
    Children
    Community
    Conscious Breathing
    Conversation
    Creation
    Darkness
    Discernment
    Divine Feminine
    Easter
    Epihpany
    Epiphany
    Faith Development
    Freedom
    Holy Spirit
    Image Of God
    Intercession
    Jesus
    Juggling
    Justice
    Lament
    Laying On Of Hands
    Lectio Divina
    Lent
    Love
    Meditation
    New Year
    Pain
    Perfectionism
    Play
    Poetry
    Prayer
    Presence
    Saints & Mystics
    Scripture
    Shame
    Silence
    Spiritual Direction
    Spiritual Growth
    Spiritual Practices
    Suffering
    Surrender
    Thanksgiving
    Theology
    Vocation & Calling
    Wisdom
    Worship Music

    RSS Feed

Schedule your own session or read What Others Are Saying!
Picture
Book an appointment using SetMore
Sign up for E-News
Picture

By clicking “Sign up for E-News” I consent to the collection and secure storage of this data as described in the Privacy Policy. The information provided on this form will be used to provide me with updates and marketing. I understand that I may modify or delete my data at any time.
  • Home
  • About
  • Offerings
    • Spiritual Direction
    • Dreamwork
    • Reiki
    • Silent Retreats
    • Groups & Seminars
  • Schedule/Pay
  • Events
    • Sign up for E-news
    • Register & Pay for Events
  • Writing
    • Blog
    • Prayers
    • Liturgical Year >
      • Advent Audio Divina
      • Advent Guided Prayer
      • Longest Night Service
      • Lent
    • Video & Audio
    • Retreatants Only
  • Resources
    • Quotes
    • Links
    • Recommended Reading
  • More
    • What Others Are Saying
    • Spiritual Direction Disclosure Form
    • Reiki Client Information Form
    • Common Questions & Answers
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact