Can justice be done in a society that no longer accepts responsibility for its wrongdoing?

In a week that has seen the end of the 28-year campaign for justice on behalf of the 95 football fans who lost their lives at the Hillsborough disaster, it’s a good time to reflect on the issues of blame when something goes wrong.

Back in the 1980s and 90s when I was minister of a church in London, I used to exchange churches (and our house and car) for a month in the summer with the minister of a church in the USA. I would just preach once on a Sunday morning and in return we would have a holiday in California or Vermont or some other State. One year we took a church in the Bronx where there was a murder almost every day, which made us happy to get back to the East End of London where, at least, we understood the culture!

One of the things that surprised us was that Americans went to law over the slightest dispute. One of the church members in Los Angeles was sued by a delivery man who tripped on the front garden path which he claimed was uneven. Law firms would advertise to represent anyone who had an accident on a ‘no-win-no-fee’ basis, which encouraged people to sue their neighbours on the slightest pretext.

That ‘blame game’ culture has spread to Britain where law firms specialise in getting compensation for victims of road accidents – fake or genuine – with whiplash being the favourite complaint. It is because of the huge increase in such insurance claims that we all have to pay such high premiums. The Government is preparing legislation to try to deal with the blame game culture that is spreading in Britain.

Change in British Character

Is it my imagination, or has there been a fundamental change in the British character in recent years? We used to be known as a stoic nation. People coped with adversity and accepted personal responsibility when things went wrong. Nowadays when anything goes wrong we look round to see who we can blame! We certainly don’t accept any personal responsibility. If we have an accident our car insurance tells us never to say ‘sorry’, even if we know we were to blame. We must never admit we made a mistake!

American blame culture has spread to Britain and changed our national character.

It is this kind of culture that lies behind the saga that has followed the Hillsborough tragedy. If the policeman in charge of crowd control had immediately admitted that his decision to open the gate to relieve the crowd pressure outside the ground had caused the pressure inside the ground, we would never have had this 28-year enquiry. It would appear that he made an error of judgment, but he is now being charged with manslaughter, which will require proof that he deliberately sent 95 people into mortal danger.

Even if he is sent to jail, it will not bring the dead back to life, but will it give satisfaction to those who have lost loved ones? Is this really what they want – just to be able to blame someone and punish them for their human error of judgment? Of course, there were lies and ‘cover ups’ involved in this particular incident which have complicated the whole tragic affair. And the relatives of the dead are perfectly justified in demanding the truth and punishment of those who lied.

From Hillsborough to Grenfell

My concern about ‘the blame game culture’ is that it is going to be with us for a long time to come in settling the latest tragedy, the Grenfell Tower inferno. We are now learning that the heat inside the building was so great that those who lost their lives will never be found so that their relatives can have the satisfaction of burying them.

This is tragic for those who are grieving the loss of loved ones. There are bound to be calls for the punishment of those who were responsible for the construction and maintenance of the building, which only had one staircase. There was no emergency lighting on the night of the fire and the fire appliances did not have the capability of reaching the top floors to rescue those trapped.

There are so many things wrong with this terrible tragedy – and so many who could in some way be held responsible for it - that the enquiry now starting is likely to last a long time and be highly complex. But in calling for injustice to be exposed and those responsible to be held to account, we also need to temper the righteous public anger that is being widely expressed – lest justice be lost to vengeance and public order be lost to anarchy.

We need to temper the righteous public anger that is being expressed, lest justice be lost to vengeance.

There is a difference between seeking justice and simply trying to deal with deep anger and sorrow by finding someone to blame; but that is what is happening as the ‘blame game culture’ spreads.

Taking Responsibility

In Britain, our biblically-based personal and corporate values used to put God first, ‘others’ second and ‘self’ last. In our modern era, however, we have dropped God and reversed ‘others’ and ‘self’. We never admit to personal error. It’s always someone else’s fault when things go wrong.

Is it because we are so insecure that we cannot admit any personal failings? Do we lack the self-confidence to be able to say “Sorry, I messed up”? It takes what Christians know as ‘grace’ (loving-kindness and favour we do not deserve) to be able to deal with issues where we know that we’ve made a mistake, or done something wrong.

The reason that Christians can handle these things better than non-Christians is due to our relationship with God, whom we know is infinitely better than we are, which makes us humble in his presence. Additionally, we know that God is a loving Father who created each of us in our mother’s womb and knows us better than anyone else. He knows our weaknesses as well as our strengths and he loves us despite our failings.

It takes what Christians know as ‘grace’ to be able to deal with issues where we know that we’ve made a mistake, or done something wrong.

It is his grace that covers our wrongdoing. He holds us accountable for our actions but, when we confess wrongdoing, God is always willing to forgive us and to restore us to right relationships with himself and those whom we have offended.

Life-Changing Grace

This is basic Christian teaching – but it is what is lacking in our society today and what is at the root of the ‘blame game’ which is so damaging to individuals and to the whole community. It would be life-changing if we could each exercise grace and so reverse this culture that destroys our relationships.

We can begin by saying ‘sorry’ silently to God next time we make a mistake. He will then give us the courage and strength to say ‘sorry’ to others. Psalm 51 is our guide – verse 12 says “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Saviour,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Truth and justice have at last prevailed with the Hillsborough enquiry verdict. But where was God in the terrible events in Sheffield 27 years ago?

Everyone in Liverpool is relieved that truth and justice have at last prevailed with the enquiry verdict that 96 football fans were not responsible for their own deaths. But where was God when the terrible events in Sheffield happened, 27 years ago?

Clifford Hill looks back at his own ministry notes of a team event in Sheffield 28 years ago to shed some light on this. This is what he recorded:

MINISTRY NOTES: SHEFFIELD 1988

In the autumn of 1988 we did a week's ministry in Sheffield, with meetings at a number of different churches as well as some united events. On the final day the organisers had arranged a gathering of ministers, pastors and leaders of all the churches in the city who had been participating in the mission. Several other clergy whose churches had not participated in the meetings also accepted invitations to attend this team event - either out of curiosity or possibly to confirm how right they had been not to participate! There were about 80 clergy and lay leaders present for this final session.

Members of the team had been staying at various addresses in and around Sheffield. Monica and I stayed in the home of a suburban vicar. On the morning of the final meeting I drove the Ministry car to pick up some of the team who were staying in other houses. Edmund Heddle took the front passenger seat and David Noakes and Monica were in the backseats. Edmund usually occupied the front seat as he was rather large and needed the additional room, but he was hopeless at navigation so Monica usually had the map and gave back seat directions. On this occasion we were driving through heavy rush hour morning traffic when suddenly Edmund said, "Stop the car! Stop the car!"

I was busy thinking of what I should say at the forthcoming meeting and I was quite startled to hear his voice. Moreover, I had no idea why he should give such a command. It was not easy to respond as we were in the outside lane surrounded by slow-moving traffic but there was an urgency I could not ignore. I assumed he was unwell. I stopped as soon as possible, putting on the hazard lights at the same time. We were right opposite the Hillsborough football ground.

Edmund was making strange groaning noises which convinced me that he was ill. All three of us looked at him anxiously and asked what was the matter. He was unable to reply and appeared to be robbed of the power of speech, which increased our concern for his health. He signalled us to be quiet and after what seemed to be ages, but was probably no more than a minute or two, he indicated that he was seeing a picture and receiving a message.

It was not unusual for Edmund, an elderly Baptist minister, to see pictures with a message and after a number of years working together we had learned to respect his integrity. When Edmund said he was receiving something from the Lord we gave him space and we paid attention. On this occasion he was clearly going through a deeply traumatic experience that had a strangely emotional effect upon him. He was groaning and weeping and breathing heavily. He was trying to describe what he was seeing but he simply could not articulate the experience. Eventually he began falteringly:

I see a most terrible tragedy in that football ground. There is an immense crowd that overflows the stands. I see people stumbling and others treading upon each other in the crush. There is panic! There are bodies, children, young people and adults being trampled upon. The noise of their cries and their suffering and fear and panic is unbelievable and indescribable. I hear such a tumult and see such disorder and bewilderment. No one knows what to do. Everywhere there is panic and many lives are being lost. The authorities are powerless to deal with the situation and no one knows what to do. The cries of the dying are too much to bear.

His voice tailed off and he lapsed into a heavy silence; his whole body being shaken with emotion. For a long time, he could do no more than groan and weep helplessly. We had never seen Edmund so disturbed in all the years that we had worked together as a team. We knew that he was not given to emotional outbursts and this was something very special. So we simply sat there in the car surrounded by traffic with no words spoken. We didn't even look at each other. We were in silent prayer, trying to deal with something we didn't understand.

We must have sat there for at least 10 minutes listening to Edmund's dramatic description; then asking the Lord to show us what to do. Eventually we remembered that we had a large number of church leaders from across Sheffield waiting for us. We all agreed that Edmund must report his experience to the local church leaders. We moved out into the traffic heading for the church where the meeting was to take place.

The meeting began with worship: we gave our report on the previous week's meetings and there was a good time of feedback followed by intercession. We then briefly described our journey that morning and told them that Edmund had received a picture with a message which we believed to be a significant revelation.

Having set the scene, I asked Edmund to describe his experience. He did so without the dramatic emotion that he had experienced in the car outside the football ground and everyone listened intently. It was difficult to gauge the reaction but no doubt many were sceptical and others simply felt that there was nothing they could do about it. We had a time of open prayer when many voices were raised asking God to show us the significance of this picture and that if it were a true word of warning, God would show what action should be taken. We returned to London leaving them to seek further guidance.

On Saturday 15^th April 1989, the nation was stunned by news of the worst tragedy in the history of British football. Liverpool Football Club was due to play a semi-final match in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough Sheffield ground. Thousands travelled from Liverpool to support their team in this important match and many thousands also travelled from Nottingham. The Liverpool end of the ground was vastly overcrowded and insufficient precautions were taken to limit the number of fans entering that section. The crush was so great that barriers collapsed and metal fencing was broken down. People stumbled and were trodden upon. The resulting panic increased the problem. 96 people lost their lives. The youngest was a boy only 10 years old. Five boys were aged 14. Most of the casualties were young men in the age range 17 to 24 while the oldest were two men in their 60s. The sense of bereavement and loss in the City of Liverpool was intense. The whole City mourned the loss of their children, young men and fathers.

Immediately after this event many of the clergy in Sheffield telephoned our Ministry office or wrote letters recalling the vivid picture that Edmund had received. There were many expressions of regret that no action had been taken. No one had gone to the football authorities and warned them of the danger that God had revealed. Of course, it is quite likely that the football authorities would have dismissed the warning but many of the ministers expressed a sense of guilt that they had not taken the warning seriously.

An Important Lesson

The people of Liverpool have had to wait 27 years to hear the truth about what happened on that fateful Saturday. At last the lies and cover-ups have been exposed: truth and justice have been established. But the ministry notes above show that there is another revelation which ought to be made known to the people of Liverpool: it is that God cared so much for their sons and daughters and husbands and fathers that he gave a special revelation to one of his servants – one who was listening to him regularly and was sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit that God was able to speak to him as we drove past that football ground some six months before the event.

God gave that revelation to Edmund so that lives could have been saved! I am not blaming the Sheffield clergy for their lack of action because I too did nothing more. As team leader I should have followed up our visit by ensuring that the football authorities were contacted and given the warning. I was busy going on to other meetings around the country; but that is not a valid reason for not taking the revelation seriously enough.

There are lessons here – for those in church leadership and for ordinary believers. If church leaders do not take prophetic warnings seriously we cannot expect secular authorities to do so.

All committed Christians have access to God through the Holy Spirit and all can learn to listen. At Prophecy Today UK we often hear of believers receiving words from the Lord, giving them to their pastor but having them rejected or not taken seriously. Leaders should take care not to dismiss words of revelation lightly, but to weigh them carefully and thereby encourage the whole fellowship to be a listening as well as a praying people.