Revelation of Penn State’s Shocking Secrets

In reading about the allegations surrounding the Athletic Department at Penn State, I was truly grieved.  It’s an amazingly sad situation in so many ways.  One can barely imagine the hurt and shame that the victimized young men have endured.  My heart breaks at the thought of what those families are going through.  I’ve read numerous reactions and seen a common sentiment of disgust for the accused, Mr. Sandusky.  Coach Paterno expressed a certain level of shock saying, “”If this is true we were all fooled.” He finished by sympathizing, “We grieve for the victims and their families. They are in our prayers.”  I found it interesting that Coach Paterno only mentioned the victims and their families being prayed for.  But what about Mr. Sandusky?

My initial reaction to this story was two-fold: First, unbelievable sadness for everyone involved, including Mr. Sandusky.  Secondly, I’m truly not surprised.  Stories like this seem to hit people the hardest who desperately would like to believe in the goodness of mankind; people who believe that we are basically “good” at our core.  As for myself, I understand people to be dangerously wicked inside with our only hope being the redemptive power of the Holy Spirit of God entering our lives.  Since sin entered the world, we now live in a broken place.  Broken to the point that people are sinful and selfish enough to lie, cheat, steal, kill, and yes… even violate the innocence of young boys and girls.  So when Coach Paterno claims that, “we were all fooled,” I would respond in asking, “Fooled by what?” In essence he was fooled by believing the façade put forth by Sandusky affirming that he was basically a good person.  Yet he appears to have been living as a slave to his desires in a cage of secrets.  Imagine how knotted up one must be in order to do the things he stands accused of? This truly is something to grieve about and for that matter, something to pray deeply for him about, is it not?

Finally, while I understand the desire of many that, if found guilty, Mr. Sandusky be severely punished, I have reason to pause.  As a collective society, we cry out for punitive justice.  “This man must pay for what he’s done!” we scream.  Yet when confronted with the guilt of our own sin before God, we deny Him an equal administration of justice.  Surely you’re asking, “Duke, are you really comparing me and my shortcomings to the horrible alleged acts of this man?” Yes indeed and here’s why.

We like to compare our sin with others in order to defend our own righteousness.  However, the God of the Bible does not weigh our sins on a scale of comparison.  There is guilt and there is innocence. Unfortunately, we are all guilty.  Just look at my life.  By measure of what I’ve done you could correctly identify me as a thief, a liar, a cheat, a drunkard, and a batterer amongst other things.  Any of these sound familiar?  Have you ever lied? Cheated? Been hammered drunk? Gotten in a fight? Join the guilty club.  But check out this part of God’s standard.  In my mind I’ve hated people. In my mind I’ve lusted after beautiful women, even married ones. In my mind I’ve schemed of ways to take advantage of others.  And in my mind, I might have even wished someone dead.  These are honest confessions.  What then would you say that I’m guilty of in the eyes of a God who judges us by a standard of perfection? Even if the standard wasn’t perfection, I’m still sure that I’ve violated quite a few commandments.  See, when we demand justice and the punishment of the evil in our world, we admit our agreement with God’s right, if not necessity, to punish evil as well.  The problem is we don’t like to think that should include us.  And we hate the standard of righteousness that He uses because it’s impossible to achieve.  Enter here the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Do you know Him?