Penn State University and Sin

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

Everyone is aware that something terrible happened at Penn State University. Many children were sexually and emotionally abused, and some with authority did not act with the appropriate speed and power to avoid the continuing abuse. I have read what the secular media has had to say, and I have read what preachers and the Christian community has had to say. Both have expressed outrage, and in the natural, that is surely the appropriate response. There is little in the natural that is worse than abusing children.

But we in the kingdom of God are called to view things in the Spirit as well as the natural. We cannot be satisfied with changing policies and tweaking the system on how to report abuse of any kind. We must look deeper, and in that investigatory look we also must find redemption - uncomfortable redemption - eternal redemption. We have a tendency to find some subtle self righteousness when someone else’s sin is much more repugnant than our own - in the natural.

But take a step backward as we put the entire question of sin in perspective. The first sin that damned the entire human race was not child abuse or murder, but one bite of one piece of fruit in direct disobedience to God’s command. Wow! Adam makes what seems to be a minor mistake and we all die?! That means if you and I were to stand in for Adam today, you and I would doom the entire race the moment we drove our car over the speed limit one minute after we left our house! To us it seems insignificant when compared to the grievous sins of others, but that is because we do not understand the nature of sin from God’s perspective.

There are no words that can adequately portray the viciousness of sin. It is profoundly vile and it is an open expression of rebellion to the Creator. The natural man measures sin by its quantity and its comparative quality. In other words, man has established a sin pecking order which illuminates some sins and excuses others. That is where mankind finds comfort in his own sin - by condemning the sin of others while tacitly admitting our own sin without the attached gravity. So the pedophile’s sin is grave while our sin is, well, understandable. And that is where the world leaves it.

But those of us who know Christ and have an appreciation for His sufferings must also step forward and admit with humility and repentance our own sin. When the sin nature is allowed to fester so that acts are committed upon children it is detestable to be sure, however we must not use that as a salve to our own conscience about the repercussions of our owns sin and the price it took to redeem our souls. In fact, without the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we would stand just as condemned as the child abuser at Penn State. Sin has no favorites.

And let us go a little further and eviscerate our thoughts and expressions of self righteousness. All of us were born in sin, all sin. Our sin nature has at its disposal every sin that others may commit. And given the right circumstance or the right opportunities or even the right physiological imbalances, we too have the capacity to commit sins we now condemn. That is not to say we should not condemn sin, we should. But we should condemn and repent of our sin not just condemn sin at arms length and feel comfortable with the little or big foxes that may roam free in our own neck of the woods. One whiff of self righteousness is as diabolical in the spirit realm as any other sin.

And then there is the issue of redemption in Christ. Let us be painfully honest. The thought of redemption for a man such as this accused Penn State pedophile is unsettling. Come on, we all feel some sort of recoil at that thought. I did. Because my outrage continued to grow as I heard more and more of the facts I could not entertain redemption for this man, at least not on a heartfelt level. Of course my theologically trained mind acknowledged that possibility, but I could not muster any compassion for him spiritually.

That is because I had for the moment forgotten the gravity of my own sin and the incredible price that Christ had to pay for my own redemption. And that is in effect self righteousness. I became caught up with the sensationalism of such a sin at Penn State, including the moral outrage from the lost community, that I forgot who I was and who I now am and how I became who I now am. Oh my dear brothers and sisters, how easily we compartmentalize the precious sufferings of our Savior King as we climb aboard the outrage train and pick up the moral stones that are common to the saved and the lost.

Rebuking sin is not the point. The Scriptures clearly identify and rebuke sin. But Paul claims to be the greatest sinner of all, and of course we know he was not. But he exhibit’s the kind of attitude that should inhabit all of us. And when we measure a sinner’s unworthiness by the definition of his specific sins, then we in effect place different values on the worthiness of sinners for Christ’s salvation. And when the crowd screams with unqualified condemnation without even a hint of a possible redemption, we must have a different voice.

In the midst of moral outrage, the church must give voice to the gospel. And yes, we must expect to be roundly criticized by those who see our gospel as condoning sin. And yes, when we offer the good news to bad men the religious community will vent their confusion by condemning us. I find it embarrassingly easy to condemn others, and I must labor in the Spirit to find redemption in my heart for the souls of men whose sins have been explored and revisited and revealed as horrific. But by God’s grace, I have been able to find compassion in the face of horror.

In the end, God will sort it all out. All we know is Christ and Him crucified. If Christ did not die for the vilest of sinners, then for whom did He die? If not for all, then for whom? Please remember the words of that blind saint Fanny Crosby: The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. Oh praise His matchless Name! Oh halleluiah to the Lamb! Oh bless the Redeemer of the whole world!

To God Be the Glory

To God be the glory, great things He hath done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life, an atonement for sin,
And opened the lifegate, that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He hath done!

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer, the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He hath done!

Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport1, when Jesus we see!

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He hath done!