Many seek to deny their guilt. And it’s certainly true that we often suffer at the hands of others. We are sinned against — but according to the Scriptures, we are also sinners: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Yet there is hope. The Book of Proverbs warns: “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Some seek to atone for their guilt themselves — through acts of charity, church involvement, etc. But if we could atone for our own sin, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to come. 

Is it just me, or is the phrase “that’s on me” becoming more common?

A football manager is interviewed after a defeat and admits that he got his tactics wrong. “Thats on me”, he says. In her recently released memoir, the Former First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon discusses her failure to narrow the attainment gap between rich and poor pupils as she committed to do in 2015. “I did not succeed in all that I set out to do on school education — and that is on me”.

It’s a way of saying: “I’ll take the blame”. “You don’t need to look for anyone else to criticise — the fault is mine, and mine alone”. It’s surely to be applauded as a humble acknowledgement of fault. In a world where people seek to blame almost anyone or anything else for their own failures, it can be refreshing to hear a politician come out and say “it’s my fault — that’s on me”. If you’ve listened to hundreds of interviews with football managers and heard them blame injuries, referees, weather conditions, fixture pile-ups — even the colour of the kit the players were wearing — it’s refreshing to hear one hold his hands up and admit that he got something wrong. When, rather than throwing his players under the bus, he will take the hit and say “that’s on me”.

Of course, the cynic might argue that it’s simply a self-serving way of someone getting ahead of the criticism that they know is coming anyway. Particularly if the manager obviously got his tactics wrong, or the politician ignored advice. Overall though, it’s surely a positive trend. There’s such a failure to accept fault in our society, that it’s just a nice change when someone holds their hands up and says “that’s on me”.

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