Tragic Consequences

It is hard to watch an institution crumble, but that is exactly what all of us have been doing these last several days. Certainly, the events transpiring at Penn State are disturbing enough, but the tragic consequences of the events themselves are almost too much to contemplate. The failure of one man was multiplied by the failure of a system run by other men. I do not fully understand or comprehend the full scope of this tragedy, but as an educator, who is in the business because of a undying love of children, my heart aches right now for these boys and their families.

The young boys involved will be forever scared and forever affected. They will never look at life in the same way, and probably will never look at most things in any of the ways most of us currently enjoy. But, there is a deeper consequence... one that goes all the way to the soul. Young men often look at their male role models with an awe reserved for only a small few: their father, their heroes and their God. These events have surely already begun to leave their mark on these boys who are now young men. They will certainly each have their own unique set of issues with which to deal, but they will also all be affected in one consistent area... that of faith. Young boys often look at their older male heroes as God-like in their early years. Their views of God and faith are often shaped by their views of their fathers and male coaches.

In Jamaica, most Christian churches are full of women and children but little or no men. Why not? I believe it is a vicious cycle repeating itself over and over. Families are broken, fathers are absent and no male role models are present so children grow up with no father, no solid male role model and no model of a Holy God who loves them. There are too many tragedies in this Penn State story to count, and I am sure more will surface over the next several weeks, but one of the tragedies that will get little or no attention is the abject failure of these men in their God-given mandate to be Godly examples to these young boys by way of love and faithfulness.

Please join me in praying for these families and, especially, for these boys/young men. My prayer is that God would visit each of them in a very special way and rekindle that flame reserved for God that others cruelly extinguished before it even had a chance to grow.