Category: Holiness

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T.H.I.N.K. Jesus

Social Media has devolved into an environment where people feel free to share whatever is on their mind without running their words through a filter. Instead of a safe playground to interact with friends, social media has become dangerous and toxic. Not all the time, mind you. But a good portion of the time. Anger. Frustration. Hatred. Divisiveness. Slander. Shaming. All of which fuel the woke/called-out culture. Like the meme says, “I’m just as surprised as you are by what comes out of my mouth.”

To counter, someone created the T.H.I.N.K. paradigm to help provide a filter, not only for social media but for all our words. The T.H.I.N.K. acronym asks five questions based on the letters for think.

Is It True? The erosion/corrosion of truth in our society is well documented and I won’t use space to rehash that now. However, even with good source material to fact check information, we seem to be more concerned with our own agenda and not seeking truth.

Is It Helpful? It’s one thing to post ideas and concepts for consideration. But a very thin line is present to post for simply to stir things up. Like lighting a fire cracker just to watch everyone’s reactions, some post to watch Social Media explode. Instead of helping move the story forward, it becomes a show in and of itself.

Is It Inspiring? If what is posted does not help people, then it’s safe to say that it won’t inspire either. When our emotions overtake us, and when we’re driven by negative feelings, what we say or post will not inspire anyone. When posting to stir the pot or for combative purposes, then driving a wedge between others is the only inspiration, and it’s not very inspiring.

Is It Necessary? The fact that one may need to hit the pause button before posting or speaking may be a big clue to stop forward progress. Since experience tells us that we will not move the ideological needle, then it’s like a futile experience.

Is It Kind? Maybe the biggest question to ask hits at the kindness meter. Since too much social media is filled with anything but kindness, maybe we need to make sure otherwise. Let’s find new ways to encourage one another online.

The five questions that help shape or shift our paradigm only work so far as we’re willing to stop to ask the questions, then honestly answer them. Sounds complicated, especially since rules may offer a guide to holy behavior, but they’ll never transform people’s lives. Something more needs to happen.

Paul exhorts the Philippians to have the mind or attitude of Christ (2:5). While contextually, he’s talking about humility and unity, the broader principle is for his followers to think and act like Jesus. Beyond a simple or mimic WWJD formula, Jesus calls us to be him to the public. So when we speak or post on social media the message beyond the post is the redeeming work of Jesus in our lives. We don’t add to the toxicity of social media, we try to allow Jesus to redeem it. Cheerful. Supportive. Respectful. Harmonious. Complimentary. Honor. Silence. For Jesus himself once posted, “You are the light of the world” (Mt. 5:16). It’s time to let it shine.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e., only God is glorified!)

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Quality Control: It’s All About Their Fruit

“By their fruit you will recognize them” (Mt. 7:16).

When Jesus begins to bring closure to his Sermon on the Mount, he warns his listeners of coming false prophets. He describes them as wolves in sheep’s clothing. Then he changes metaphors and calls us to be fruit inspectors. He wants us to examine, not only the fruit itself, but also the source of the fruit. Like going through a grocery store, before you buy what they’re selling you’re running quality control on your purchase – bruising and level of ripeness. Jesus also calls for common sense, certain trees may look like they should produce fruit, but they don’t. Just because a plant produces something, and even if it looks right, doesn’t mean the “fruit” is good for you or tastes good. Then he adds, check out the tree itself because if it’s rotten it won’t produce anything of value. Cut it down and burn the wood (Mt. 7:16-20).

Jesus applies his imagery to his contemporary situation. Many call on the name of the Lord, but the Lord will not recognize them. Countless who do call are also able to perform incredible works like prophesying, exorcisms and various other miracles. Jesus says that just because they can do these wonderful and incredible things, doesn’t mean God is with them (Mt. 7:21-23).

Herein lies our struggle. We’re so enamored by the power of the “Spirit”, we’re willing to discount all the other evidence to the contrary. We stop inspecting whether the fruit actually exists in that person’s life. Does that person prophesy or perform miracles without any evidence of Jesus in their life? Do those people wax eloquently the very words we want to hear without any indication that they walk their talk? Sometimes it seems we’re so desperate to have our way we’re willing to compromise the very integrity of the gospel for our own agenda.

Two snapshots of this dilemma surfaces in Scripture. The first is when King Saul is in hot pursuit of David, and is intending to kill him. God has abandoned Saul, and in fact has allowed an evil spirit to dwell in him (1 Sam. 18:10). When he locates David, he finds him with Samuel, so he sends his men to retrieve him. Three times. And in each incident his men are overcome by the Spirit and begin prophesying (i.e. possibly praising God). So Saul takes matters into his own hands, and when he encounters Samuel, he’s dropped to the ground in prophesying (i.e. possibly praising God). As the people witness the actions of the king, they wondered if “. . . Saul was also among the prophets?” (1 Sam. 18:24c). Saul was not a prophet. The moment was God’s way of stepping in to prevent David’s harm. So just because the King of Israel finds himself prophesying and praising God doesn’t mean his life is lined up with God. In fact, Saul is not someone to look to for God’s redemption.

The other story comes from Acts 16 when Paul was in Philippi. A girl, possessed by a demon and a victim of trafficking, spoke truth about Paul and Silas. She followed them throughout the town shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved” (Act. 16:17). But her life betrayed her words, so Paul cast the demon out of her. For Paul, the one who spoke the truth was just as important as the words used in declaring truth.

Jesus does not define his terms when it comes to “fruit,” nor does he tell us what the wolf will actually do once he’s invaded the fold, the imagery of very self-evident. He expects us to connect the dots. If Jesus’ opening words (5:3-11) have any bearing fruit, then the ones with spiritual power and words are driven by true humility, not pride. Remorsefulness of sin is the burden weighing on them; they neither brag nor dismiss their sin. A power fueled by God and not by self is present. They have a passionate pursuit of God’s righteousness and not their own self-righteousness. Generous mercy overspills their lives. A purity of heart is evident by words and actions. They seek peace first. Finally, because of their lives lining up with God, they accept character assassination as Jesus endured.

So before we give too much credence and credibility to a human who speaks the right words with an overabundance of charisma, implementing some discretion might be worth the time. It’s biblical to make sure their lives actually reflect the one they’re speaking for and about. Jesus calls us to accountability as fruit is produced from our trees. It’s not being judgmental, it’s quality control.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

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Land That I Love!

The United States of America holds some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring sights people could behold. While my favorites have always included the Pacific Northwest, yours could be Glacier National Park, Niagara Falls, Garden of the Gods, Gulf of Mexico or the Kona Coast. Once you catch a glimpse of these places, you almost feel like God has opened a window into heaven where we witness his majesty, or you wonder if the Garden of Eden was anything like what we’ve seen.

But the beautiful, heavenly-like places are in danger as the damage caused by humanity’s careless and calloused footprint threatens its very existence. Trash by campers and hikers ignoring the “Leave No Trace” plea eventually deface the value of the beauty we’re drawn to. Careless and reckless actions, like setting off fireworks in wooded areas or failure to monitor a campfire, has burned forests to the ground. From oil spills to industrial runoff the waterways have been contaminated. The lack of respect shown to the land has continued to devalue the beauty before us.

During the summer of 1987, my brother and I spent the holiday weekend at Alabama Gulf Coast. One of the things I remember the most was the number of glass beer bottles floating in the ocean waters. Was it an accident? Probably not as numerous bottles were floating in the waters. Even thirty plus years later, I can’t get my head wrapped around such indifference to the environment. Why trash the Land that I Love?

I’m not sure I can answer that question, but maybe the physical picture of the “land that I love,” is a reflection of the spiritual element. The land is trashed because our own lives have been trashed. We don’t respect the land before us because we don’t respect ourselves and each other. So we speak with hateful, demeaning and dehumanizing words, while justifying it in the process.

Words matter. They can hurt people or help heal them. They can destroy someone’s confidence or build them up. They can be used either to backstab or to protect one’s backside. They can be like salt water or like fresh water. They can curse our fellow man or glorify God (see Jas. 3:9-12). Words are an expression of our spiritual vitality.

Jesus says that what we say emerges from our hearts (Mk. 7:20-23). Just listen long enough to the words people say to each other. If they are filled with kindness, compassion and generosity then their hearts are pure. If you’re like me, you’ve probably got your fill of the disrespect, vile and demonizing language being not only freely used but also even being rationalized. And the result is the “Land” is devolving into nothing more than a cesspool of our own verbal excrement.

If you find yourself sick of the trash, then it’s time to clean it up. I’m not addressing the “swearing” or “cussing” though we could discuss that too. I’m talking about the cruel way we speak of each other, and about people in general. Stop using such language. Stop believing others are “speaking their minds” when they’re revealing their hearts. Stop buying into the lie that words don’t matter. It’s trashing our society, our community, our churches and destroying the Land that I Love.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

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A Time for Silence

I’ve always been intrigued about the story of Laban. Jacob’s decision to return to Canaan is motivated, at least in part by God’s will (Gen. 31:3). But another factor was his deteriorating relationship with his father-in-law, Laban (Gen. 31:2). Without warning, Jacob uproots his family, getting a three day jump before Laban finds out that his son-in-law, daughters, and grandchildren are long gone. Like a posse, Laban pursues Jacob for seven days. Like water reaching the boiling point, Laban fumes over Jacob’s double-crossing. With seven days to think, Laban rehearses his speech; he’ll repay Jacob for the pain and damage caused. 

But the night before Laban overtakes Jacob and sets to confront him, his sleep is disturbed by a visit from God. “Be careful,” warns God, “not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad” (Gen. 31:24). Wow!  God puts a cork on Laban’s bottled anger and oozing thoughts of retaliation. I’ve often wished God would intervene like that whenever someone had a score to settle with me. Even more, I’ve often wished God would intervene and stop me from saying or doing something I later regretted. 

The trouble with “words” is that they emerge from a problem with the heart. Jesus made it clear that it’s not what goes into a person that makes him/her unclean but what comes out of the mouth (Mk. 7:15). So whatever is going on in the heart will emerge from the mouth. We might hope the words are as sweet as honey, but we often hope in vain as what emerges is as vile as projectile vomiting. 

In the New Testament list of “big” sins, the spoken sin always finds a voice. For instance, Romans 1:29 speaks of those filled with wickedness, evil, greed, depravity, envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. Yes these are big sins, but so are the ones associated with the mouth: gossip, slander, and boasting (Rom. 1:30). I may not be guilty of the former, but of the latter . . .? In the list found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul includes slanderers alongside the prostitutes and drunkards who will not inherit the Kingdom of God. While the acts of the flesh (NIV’s “sinful nature”) stand in opposition to walking by the Spirit, they do not include the spoken words; they do talk of “fits of rage” (Gal. 5:20).  Paul tells us to get rid of all slander (Eph. 4:31), obscenity, foolish talk, and coarse (dirty) joking (Eph. 5:5); such traits disqualify a person from any inheritance in the kingdom of God. James, recognizing that the tongue, i.e. mouth, can be as wild as an unbroken stallion, says to bridle it and keep a tight rein on it (Jam. 1:26). 

James’ larger context is that the person who believes they’re religious or spiritual, yet cannot control the words he/she says is only fooling themselves; God cannot be fooled. Therefore, one of the signs that our religion is either pure or corrupted is found in the way we use words, because what we say reflects our hearts. Our heart is the throne-room. Who sits on that throne is revealed by what we say. And there is only one throne in our throne-room, and only enough room exists for one ruler. Since I doubt you’ll ever get the help to bite your tongue like Laban did, we have to ask ourselves, who’s ruling our hearts? What we’ve been saying speaks volumes about who exactly rules our hearts.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

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Restoring Civility

“Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell . . . You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also . . . If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” (Mt. 5:22, 38-41). 

A number of years ago I accessed YouTube to introduce my children to The Muppet Show. When I searched the site, the old men in the balcony, Statler and Waldorf, appeared. Someone had strung about two minutes worth of insults together. We laughed till our stomachs hurt and tears flowed. Poor Fozzy Bear who absorbed the blunt of the humor, heckling, and harassing. Such bantering was scripted and all in fun, evident by my children’s reaction to the video. But in the real world such mocking is rude and lacks respect. The danger is that such incivility in the real world threatens the social fabric that weaves us together. 

We live in an informal society, where people “speak their minds” at the expense of other’s feelings, who address seniors by their first name instead of “Sir” or “Ma’am,” and where Casual Friday includes jeans has extended to most parts of the week and social occasions. The comfortable, laid-back environment seems to allow far more intimacy, where people can be themselves. However, it also seems to spawn rudeness, disrespect, and selfishness.

We turn on the TV and the panelists on the talk shows attack each other instead of discussing the issue. The more sensitive the issue, the more passionate the panelist justify their insults. We tune into talk radio and the host of the show spends his/her three hours on air demonizing anyone who disagrees with his/her position. We open up FaceBook only to find angry and disruptive arguments, leaving us wondering why we’re even friends with them? Without face-to-face interaction, we feel the freedom to say anything unfiltered and the result is a lack of civility in our society.

Do we get along with people? Are we being neighborly?  How fast do we seek retaliation instead of forgiveness? Do we respect boundaries and are boundaries enforced? Are we a people characterized by decent behavior in all situations? Civility is about public restraint, by controlling ourselves for the greater good of the community. Without civility, society leads to civil unrest, and chaos soon follows, and the fabric holding us together ends up frayed. 

Jesus addressed civility when he spoke of turning the other cheek, avoiding name calling, blessing those who curse you, widening the definition of “neighbor,” and forgiving those though they were executing him. Even “shaking the dust off one’s feet” was a civil way of leaving an uncivil environment. So discipleship forces us to act with civility even when those around us are uncivil. 

Have we lost civility? If not, it’s almost gone. If civility is restored to our society, it will only happen when people of faith begin acting like people of faith. When we treat everyone with dignity and respect, we’ll begin restoring civility. When we engage others with listening ears, we’ll begin restoring civility. When we stop making blanket statement on groups and try to understand individual plights, we’ll begin restoring civility. When we start adopting Jesus’ policy of love and shut down the rhetoric of hate, we’ll begin restoring civility.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

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Spiritual Disciplines Everyone Can Do

Spirituality in a person’s life can be difficult to balance and to manage. We believe the giants of faith can walk on water, move mountains, or are beyond temptation. But everyone fights in the battle. Everyone struggles with sin. Everyone lives with the scars. While everyone drinks from the spiritual wells, some wells are deeper than others. So the question might be, how can we deepen the wells we drink from to enrich our spiritual life? Here are some common suggestions anyone can do to improve their spiritual walk with God.

● Worship . . . The Church gathers every week to worship God and to break bread. While together we sing, pray, give, commune at the Table, and are encouraged and challenged by exhortations from God’s Word. Because it’s an assembly, accountability and fellowship is built into this one hour. Unfortunately, church and the church gatherings have been devalued and even attacked; it’s often viewed as irrelevant. However, for spiritual purposes, never underestimate the discipline and value of spending Sunday with God and with each other.

● Prayer . . . From the simple prayer before a meal to the quiet time you spend with God, prayer allows us a direct line to God. We can share, not only our struggles and pains, but our dreams and visions too. It’s really about a relationship with God, and he wants us to come to him with no pretense (Mt. 6:7). We can talk to God and open up about our lives. We can approach him in full confidence knowing that he will not reject us because he wants to have a relationship with us.

● Fasting . . . Of all the spiritual disciplines, fasting has probably taken the biggest hit. Who wants to go without eating? The value of fasting is the discipline of saying “no” to your body for something it wants but doesn’t need. Most of us have conditioned our bodies to get hungry at a certain time when the truth is what we experience is “false hunger pains.” Paul talks about making his body a slave (1 Cor. 9:27) so that he can avoid his body enslaving him on its desires. While many people cannot fast an entire day or a few days, one can skip meals, limit snacks, or even limit fluid to juices.

● Confession . . . They say “confession is good for the soul.” They may be right. Getting things “off our chest” helps lighten the load, and makes our burdens easier to bear. James links confession with prayer (5:16) telling us that the two disciplines work in tandem with each other. We confess to each other and pray for one another.

● Serving . . . While volunteering has taken a hit lately, finding ways to give back to the community, the church and/or to God takes attention off of self and places it onto others. It’s a way to empty ourselves so that we can keep our own selfishness at bay. More so, secretly doing service keeps our motives in check.

● Reading . . . We live in a time where more volumes have been written than we’ve previously known, but fewer people are reading. An amazing paradox stands that the most common way God has revealed himself has been through his written word, and yet we don’t like to read. Beyond prayer, the simplest way to encounter God every day is to open up our Bibles and begin reading. While we’re in the mood to read, why not look at the ocean of books, periodicals and blogs put out there on a regular basis. While a lot of stuff published isn’t worth the time or effort, much of it is. Find or ask someone you respect where the good stuff to read is.

● Generosity . . . As we continue to look outside of ourselves, being generous reminds us that we do not own the material things but that we’re stewards of the resources God has given us. In order for money to lose its control over our lives (1 Tim. 6:10), money must be viewed as a means for ministry not as a stockpile for wealth. By letting go we’re building trust in God that he’ll take care of our needs and use us to bless others.

By no means are these the only spiritual disciplines for our lives. Echoing the Hebrews writer (Heb. 11:32), I don’t have time to talk about joy, quiet time, role of music, simplicity, and more. However, these are good starting blocks to develop your spiritual walk with God. They only demand what you’re willing to give, but what they give back will deepen the spiritual wells you drink from.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(only God is glorified!)

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Trash Pick Up for the Soul

As a child, I remember commercials trying to educate people on what trash is versus what trash is not, as if people really didn’t know the difference. Everything they showed was trash, from the cigarette butt flicked to the road to the fast food wrapping paper tossed into street to the bags of trash falling out of a truck.

During the 1980’s a national movement was underway to clean up the roads and highways. Commercials were produced with the then popular Oak Ridge Boys lending their voices for the theme song, “Take Pride in America.”

When I lived in Tennessee in the 90’s a State-wide campaign was in place to raise awareness for the amount of trash on the side of the highways. I remember a heavy man wearing a tank top driving a convertible down a road. His car was full of trash and as he was going down the road the wind blew the trash all over the highway. It didn’t help things that he was throwing some of it out himself. They called the guy in the car, “Tennessee Trash.”

Following the flooding in Scioto County, keeping Highway 335 impassible, one of the disturbing aftermaths was the amount of trash that lined the highway and other main roads. Finding the source for all that trash might be hard to determine. But it feels like the trash simply gravitates to water.

For the past couple of months, it seems like all I’ve seen is the line of trash accumulating beside the road, and with it comes two concerns. First, something is disheartening when considering how apathetic people act about the trash, and their disregard for creation by throwing trash to the side of the road. As a society, we’ve lost our pride in the beauty of the earth. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” Our world does not belong to us, or even to the next generation, but we’re caretakers of our world for God.

Secondly, the trash by the side of the road will eventually make its way into the rivers and streams, and ultimately to the ocean. The trash will kill the land, and in turn kill us too. Have you seen the videos of the amount of trash that is collected out of our oceans? One source says that 5.25 trillion pieces of (plastic) trash floats on the surface of the water, or 800 million tons of (plastic) trash. How does one begin the process of cleaning up that mess?

We may not be able to stop the big corporations and companies from polluting the land and water, but we can stop being the cause for our trash reaching the waters. We can stop throwing trash to the ground, and we can be mindful of picking it up as well.

I remember the first time a trash problem was evident. It’s not like I’d never not seen trash before that time, but I never noticed the extent of the trash until college. As a child, and when my mother was not around, I remember finding glass bottles on school playgrounds and I’d shatter them because it sounded cool (if mom saw me do that, I’d not be alive today, and if mom reads this, um sorry mom). But when I was in college, my brother and I travelled to the Florida beach for a summer holiday weekend. As we swam in the ocean, I was horrified by the amount of beer (and maybe Coke) bottles and trash floating in the water. Who uses the ocean as their personal garbage disposal?

The Old Testament carries a rich theology of the land. How Israel took care of the land was in direct proportion to their relationship to God. Second Chronicles 7:14 links repentance to God healing the land. In the same vein, Numbers 35:33 warns against polluting the land, and how its result has spiritual consequences. Leviticus 18:24-28 describes the land as having vomited out it caretakers because of their idolatry, and warns Israel its fate for participating in the same rebellious sin. Maybe what the Biblical narrative is telling us is that the way we treat the land is in proportion to the way we treat God. If we’ve polluted the land, maybe it’s an outpouring of the pollution in our own lives.

I once participated in a “adopt a highway” campaign stretching by the church I was preaching for. We got out and spent an evening picking up trash. It wasn’t fun, but the company was. It was hard work. And the stretch of highway looked a lot better. Maybe picking up trash is a simple reminder of cleaning the trash from our own lives.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

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You Might Be a Pharisee If . . .

In Sunday morning’s sermon, Jamie Riley (my fellow minister at Sunshine Church) listed a number of warning signs for Pharisaic attitudes that permeate throughout churches. As he was speaking, my ADHD mind began chasing thoughts, such as, “how did/does the Pharisaic mind rise to prominence?” An over simplified answer might be that anytime a high view of Scripture is embraced, a Pharisaic expression of legalism soon follows. People who are passionate about following God’s Word will eventually create their own rules to protect God’s Word from being broken. When they find themselves in positions of power and authority, they’ll impose their interpretation and rules on the people, believing they’re holding true to God’s Word. Ultimately, what started as good intentions ends with protecting the status quo, their authority and position. 

The second thing that went through my mind was the connection to all the redneck jokes, and how easy it could be to connect Jamie’s list to Jeff Foxworthy’s one-liners. So with apologies to Mr. Foxworthy, here is an expanded list of Pharisee tendencies provided by Jamie from Sunday morning. 

You Just Might Be A PHARISEE If . . .

you experience years of spiritual unrest, because you’re never quite secure in Jesus’ promise of forgiveness . . .

you’re a surveillance expert, looking and monitoring people to see if (or hope?) they fall in their walk with God . . .

you feel like you can thank God that you are not like (insert label here [see Luke 18:9-14]) . . .

you hold an unhealthy relationship with authority, i.e. taking great pride in holding a place of authority and abusing that authority to gain control over people . . .

you practice un-merciful exactness so that God’s mercy is limited to only people who follow every minute command in Scripture . . .

you believe that simply showing up for worship every Sunday makes you right with God . . .

you spend more time talking about what you are “against,” and not what you are “for;” certainly, you rarely ever act on what you are “for” because the position on the topic is more important than actually ministering to the people impacted by the position . . . 

you believe God actually needs you, and that the church cannot survive without
you . . .

your salvation is based on works, not on Jesus; you actually think that your good works will get you into heaven . . .

you make every issue either “black and white” or that every issue holds “heaven and hell” ramifications . . .

you read the Bible to substantiate your convictions, not to be shaped into God’s image . . .

someone tries to confront you, and you get angry or offended . . .

a creative and charismatic leader is a threat to your place and position in the church . . . and

you pick and choose which parts of Scripture you’re going to follow and obey.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

(Clarification: Jamie did not invent his list but gleaned them from numerous sources. I have expanded and fleshed out his list with more examples for the purposes of the article).                                 

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Behind the Masks

For the past couple of months, the news media has reported a number of disturbing episodes arising out of our society. None of these stories are related. All these stories seem to be tied together by a common social (or possibly spiritual) problem behind the joyous mask of our culture. 

Episode #1 . . . Media mogul Harvey Weinstein has been ousted by his production company because of ongoing sexual harassment charges brought against him. Women have been coming forward in droves to report the abuse they’ve faced by this powerful man in an industry known for making women nothing more than sex objects for men. The indignation has set off a firestorm across Hollywood; they’re scrambling to figure out how an industry known for exploiting women could have an executive treating women as an object of his own lust. Others have been coming forward to make their voices heard. Ayssa Milano took to social media and began the #Me Too campaign raising awareness for women who have been sexually abused; her tweets have given women the courage to come forward to share their own story.  

Episode #2 . . . University of Louisville officially fired head basketball coach Rick Pitino, who is embroiled in a scandal where the FBI has conducted a “sting” operation over the past two years. Simply, at least five NCAA basketball coaches, including an assistant coach at Louisville, have been indicted for bribery, wire fraud and mass corruption.  These coaches, assisted by Adidas, operated a “pay for play” scheme where six digit figures were funneled to top recruits’ families promising to sign with Adidas once the player reached the NBA. The fear is this problem is systemic to the NCAA. For Pitino, innocent or not, his firing emerged because of a lack of “institutional control” as this corruption was operating under his watch.  It’s not the worst scandal he’s found himself tied to, but it’s the latest in a string of scandals.

Episode #3 . . . Members of a now defunct Penn State fraternity are facing misdemeanor charges in a hazing incident where a 19 year old pledge, Tim Piazza, died (felony charges have been dismissed). The under-aged victim was forced to drink vodka, beer, and wine on an empty stomach. Intoxicated, he passed out and fell down the stairs of the fraternity house. He was carried to a couch where he was slammed and punched in the stomach. The fraternity men poured beer on him while he groaned and held his stomach. In the wee hours of the morning a decision was made to call 9-11. He was rushed to emergency surgery, but died of a ruptured spleen, brain injuries and internal bleeding. 

The three episodes have very little to do with each other, except that the public outrage has been loud and clear. Stop men like Harvey Weinstein from making women objects of man’s desires! Stop the greed-driven organization that makes millions off of poor and vulnerable athletes. Stop turning our higher education system into one party after another!

The outrage is loud and clear, and people want justice (i.e. where individuals are treated fairly and with respect). But the outrage is a mask, for behind it lies an ugly, decaying truth. We’re outraged over the treatment of women, but we’ve supported the dehumanizing of women as sex objects. We’re outraged over the flow of money to our universities sports programs, but we want our teams to win (at all costs). We’re outraged over the death of an under-aged fraternity wanna-be, but we dismiss the parties as a normal part of the college experience. Yes, the outrage continues, if only as a way to mask our true selves. 

On the Greek stage the actors wore masks to cover their faces as they pretended to be people other than themselves. The Greek word for actor is hypocrite. Jesus applied this word to those whose piety to God was motivated by applause of men (Mt. 6:1-18). The word may be used to describe America, outrage by the injustice, without admitting we’re the ones causing the injustice. 

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. Only God is Glorified!)