by Hansol An

If you want to see what is important in this country at any given point, a cursory examination of its college and universities can be a great place to start. Colleges and universities have always been avant-garde and are often a concentrated reflection of society’s ills, concerns, and aspirations. Historically they have been at the cusp of political and social change. They are also often associated with the latest trends and fads. It’s no secret that most colleges encourage the exploration of free thinking and exploration without the restrictions of their parents’ and the outside world’s imposed moral restrictions. This ‘freedom’ can sometimes lead to stereotypical sinful excesses and debauchery associated with collegians. To hear of sinful antics on a college campus is not uncommon, but is typically limited to the coed population. Most hold university leaders and administrators in high esteem because of the stature their positions afford. As children we are taught to respect and trust those who teach us. Such indoctrination stays with us into college even when most other convictions are tossed aside. Events of recent weeks have challenged such thinking and have once again brought the occurrences on a university campus into the living rooms of an entire country.

Pennsylvania State University’s flagship campus at University Park is highly regarded for its academics, but is better known for it’s athletic achievements, particularly those of the very visible football program. If you don’t follow college football, Penn State is well known for having a successful football program for decades, reaching it’s zenith in the 80’s when they won two National Championships. The team is synonymous with Joe Paterno, their head coach for a record 45+ years. He also holds the record for most victories by a coach in the highest level of collegiate football (409; no other coach has reached 400), most bowl game victories (24) and more. His team flourished during his tenure and for the most part he seemed to do it the right way, avoiding many of the scandals that plagued other major college programs. In the eyes of the Penn State faithful he was an icon. That all changed this year when one of his long time assistants, Jerry Sandusky, was arrested and charged with numerous sex crimes against young boys from 1994 though 2009. Some incidences reportedly occurred during his time as an assistant under Paterno. Allegedly, in 2002, Joe Paterno was told about an incident of abuse involving Sandusky and a 10-year-old boy in a school facility. According to a grand jury report, Paterno reported what he heard to his direct supervisor, fulfilling his legal obligation. However, he has been severely criticized for not following-up and reporting it directly to the police when it appeared that the school’s administration did not. Subsequently, he was fired.

Sandusky’s alleged deviance has been widely reported by the media due to its sensational nature and continued to gain interest when it became apparent that high ranking administrators tried to hide the allegations for the sake of the school’s reputation. As so often has been the case, events on a university campus have reverberated throughout America leaving many to question where the moral fiber of this country has gone. I don’t think that the most shocking part is that a pedophile abused so many innocent boys; pedophiles have been around for a long time. The most shocking part is that it happened, over such a long time period, at such a high profile university, while many well respected men in positions of authority did nothing to bring such evil to light.

Events like these cause people to wonder what is happening to our society. To some it seems as if society is getting worse and worse with each passing year but it wasn’t that long ago that the Catholic church went through a similar scandal involving its priests and young boys. People seem to forget too quickly and ignore the truth contained in the Bible. The Word tells us that we should not be so surprised. The truth of man’s condition is described throughout its pages. Jesus himself said, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness…” (Mark 7:21-22). The early church needed only to look around them and see the Roman Empire to witness the depths of human depravity. Before that you could look to Sodom and Gomorrah who were so sinful that God had to smite them. When God has to smite whole towns due to their sinfulness you know that there had to be some serious corruption. The people of Noah’s time were so corrupt that God decided to wipe them all out, except Noah and his family, and start over new. Depravity in society is nothing new. A wise man once asserted, “There is nothing new under the sun.”

The world does not recognize it’s own degeneracy. But believers should not forget that they are also capable of the same level of immorality. Psalm 14:2-3 states, “The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” The word for “all,” in the Hebrew means, ALL. When we loose sight of our dependence on God and become arrogant in our own righteousness, we are in danger of falling into sin. “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom,” (Proverbs 11:2). Even David, a man after God’s own heart, fell into serious sin when he became complacent in his walk and inattentive to his own potential for sinfulness. He committed adultery and murder. Are we “common Christians” any less capable of serious sin than King David? I’m not saying pedophilia is a common sin that people struggle with but I do believe that our hearts are wicked and capable of serious sin. God’s grace is all we can depend on and we must depend on it daily, hourly, moment-by-moment in order to persevere in our walks. We have to maintain our testimonies if we want to be light and salt to our campuses and in turn, the world.