Not the last
The Penn State scandal demonstrates the double-minded, unstable nature of American culture. It is yet one more signal indicating the ethics crisis which has settled upon our country.

Joe Paterno’s problem was not that he did not do enough to rein in a child sex offender. He didn’t, of course, and the actions taken by the Penn State Trustees against him and the other officials in this sordid, tragic episode were altogether appropriate and just.

Now the Penn State crisis is prying the lid off similar scandals in other universities. Both The Citadel and Syracuse are investigating athletic staff members in the face of similar charges. We have not seen the last of these revelations, I fear.

I’m saddened by these revelations, and especially the situation at Penn State. I have admired Coach Paterno for nearly 42 years now, ever since his Penn State team barely, but cleanly and soundly, defeated the Missouri Tigers – for whom I played at the time – in the 1970 Orange Bowl.

They came to Miami all business and did their job in a workmanlike manner, as a team, while we, cocky in our Big 8 title and number 5 ranking, banking on our big name stars, looked like prima donnas and schmucks. Coach Paterno was gracious and humble in the passing moment, at the banquet the next day, when I congratulated him and he shook my hand.

Double-minded
Over the years, the more I observed Coach Paterno, the more I came to appreciate his “Success with Honor” approach to athletics and life. He made a point of emphasizing academics and good conduct. No other big time college football program can boast as high a percentage of graduates as Penn State during the Paterno years. What other football coach has a university library named after him?

The Penn State scandal demonstrates the double-minded, unstable nature of American ethics and culture. On the one hand, we encourage everyone to indulge as much sex as they consider to be their right or need. Pornography is readily available to anyone of any age, pop culture and advertising celebrate sex and exploit its marketing power, and as standards continue to be lowered, laws are changed to accommodate the new attitudes toward and demand for sex.

Some taboos still exist, however, and most of us understand where the boundaries lie. But I suspect at least some of that “most” are hoping that, sooner or later, many of those taboos will be set aside, just as so many before them have.

And there will always be people who will sneer at established standards, test existing boundaries, and challenge long-standing taboos. Indeed, the reason sex has become much more visibly a part of American life is precisely because people have been successful in moving the boundaries and shattering the taboos of previous generations, arguing that “times have changed” and the old ways are no longer best.

Wanting a bulwark
Those challenges continue in our day. And though they have not yet managed to establish sex between adults and children as an, if not normal, at least not uncommon, expression of sexual behavior, present trends suggest this may be only a matter of time. What moral and ethical bulwark exists to prevent it? Certainly nothing in the regnant “moral relativism” of our times has the requisite ethical spine to draw a solid line and say, “No further!”

Among the members of the Christian community, our neglect of God’s Law, squeamishness about exposing sin, and reluctance to insist on repentance as a vital part of our walk with Lord explain why our own ethical conduct has not provided us anything to boast about in recent years. In many ways the churches have simply mirrored the ethical decline in the culture around us, as if decline – and not revival – were some kind of ethical entropic norm.

In years to come, if trends continue, those who prey on children and those who look the other way as they do may not be treated so harshly. Joe Paterno’s problem may only have been that he was born too soon.

As for those of us who are called the salt of the earth by our Savior and King, we need to ask ourselves some serious questions about how we’re doing at preserving what is good and decent and holding off what is corrupt and decadent in our society.

Which is to say, Joe Paterno’s problem is, in many ways, as much our problem as his.

It’s time we in the Christian community began to face up to the ethical crisis in America, a crisis for which we share at least some of the blame. But the difference between us and the moral relativists beyond the pale of faith is that we have an unchanging moral compass to guide us – the Word of God. And we have a risen Savior and the indwelling Spirit to empower us for holy and righteous and good living.

But if we will not repent of our negligence of God’s Law and our too-tolerant view of sin, we will have nothing to offer our contemporaries to help stave off the inevitable collapse of the next presently-accepted taboo.

The rest of the nation is looking at the Penn State scandal and pondering its ramifications for our ethical life as a nation. Here is an opportunity for the Church, through repentance, revival, and renewal in God’s Law, to show the way to a brighter, safer, more successful, and more honorable future.

Next steps

Watch the trailer for our series, Doing the Right Thing. Show it to some friends, and challenge them to join you in bringing this much-needed series to your church. Full details can be found at the Colson Center website. Let your next step be the first in a new direction of doing the right thing for yourself, your church, and our country.

For more insight to this question, get the book, Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics, by Scott B Rae, from our online store. You could also download the free PDF ViewPoint series, “The Law of God in the Life of the Church,” and study it together with some friends.