Ever since I saw the news on Saturday of the sex abuse scandal at Penn State, I've followed this story closely. And I've followed it with a heavy heart. How could we not? It's a story that should make our hearts heavy, full of grief that such a thing could ever happen.
As a minister, I've had to deal with my share of difficult issues. And I know I have not always dealt with them well or with as much wisdom as I should have. I tried, Lord knows I tried, but I am sure that along the way I left failures on the way side. I'm sure there were times I avoided issues that I should have dealt with in a more head-on manner.
And that's why Joe Paterno's resignation today scares me to death.
I am certain that it never occurred to him eleven years ago that something he failed to do would cause the end of his career as a football coaching legend. Perhaps he felt cleared of it because he reported it to his superiors. But we have to wonder.... Did he think about it again? Did it ever bother him? Did he give it more thought? Did he intend to keep it quiet? We'll never know. That's between Joe and God.
But we do know this. His failure to act in a thorough manner in a difficult and embarassing situation in the past cost him his job today. Whatever his motives or lack of motives may have been, today he pays the price of not fully living up to his responsibilities in his role as a leader. This is where leaders in the Body of Christ can learn from JoePa's mistake.
As I've read about this controversy again and again, what I've noticed is that most people believe that he had a moral obligation as a human being to notify the policy, child welfare services, etc. and to make sure action was taken and children were protected. They believe he had a moral obligation to follow through.
Most feel that what he did was simply not enough.
So take this as a warning pastors, board members, elders - many times we are faced with difficult or even horrific situations that require our attention and action. And many times we get so concerned about the reputation of our church or ministry, that we fail to do what is thoroughly right. We protect our institutions to the detriment of those we are called to serve. We spin the story. We punish the messenger. We ABUSE our power and authority by covering up the wrong doing or ignoring it all together and crushing accountability. We don't want to hear about things that are going to shake things up. And we take the easy road.......and instead of going to battle for those who are abused and suffering, we lock arms in defense of "our" ministry, "our" church, or even "our reputation" and "our brand".
May God have mercy on us. This is wrong. We have a greater obligation to PEOPLE, before God, than we do to institutions.
We see before us today a horrible example of where we - and those we serve - could be in ten years if we are not vigilant and watchful. We see a great coach, a legend some would say, stepping down in disgrace. After serving for over 40 years at this place, his support eroded quickly when it was learned that he did not do what was thorougly right, as he should have in his position. And not only is he leaving under a cloud of disgrace, so many people were hurt as the result of his inaction. For many of them, their lives will never be the same. So many people hurt. And it could have been avoided.
Today I remember back to days when I had to make some hard decisions, some hard choices. And I'm wondering, "Did I do enough?".
My comment here comes very late, but I want to give you kudos for this post. Right on the money. In a nutshell it comes down to not following Christ because it might cost something. In cases like this it can be reputation or a loss of people/income for a church. I've seen it happen, too.
Great parallel you've drawn from a terrible situation. Just read John 13:42-43 and saw a reaction from people similar to what you're talking about here.
Posted by: Dean Lusk | December 18, 2011 at 07:25 AM