by Pastor Patrick Cho

You couldn’t turn on the radio or TV these past couple weeks without hearing something about the scandal at Penn State University and the child sexual abuse charges against former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky. Certainly all that is surfacing, as well as the firing of university heads and head coach Joe Paterno, will damage the university’s reputation for years. It will certainly be a long time before the university recovers from all of this. It is a sad and serious situation for the school and for all the families involved.

I don’t want to get into the grossness of the allegations or even the recently published defense of Sandusky where he claims he was merely guilty of “horseplay” with those boys. I don’t want to talk about the culpability of Coach Paterno or whether or not he was morally responsible to do more than he did in response to the accusations he received. I’m sure many more articles will be written about these things in the coming months especially as the trial gets underway.

Reflecting on this whole situation, one thought kept repeating in my mind, and I realize this is a minor issue compared to the seriousness of the situation. But we certainly have a tendency to make heroes of men and even idolize them in our hearts. Oftentimes, we make sports stars into heroes who really have no business being treated that way. Just because a guy can throw a ball or run fast doesn’t mean we should make them out to be saints, but sometimes we do. Sometimes, in our eyes, our heroes can do no wrong. The Sandusky situation is a sobering reminder of how false this thinking is.

Sadly, it reminds me of other greats in the athletic world who came crashing down because of scandals and moral failures. Tiger Woods is no longer a name that is only associated with golf because of his adulterous affairs. Tiki Barber has been bashed for leaving his wife of eleven years while she was pregnant in order to continue what had been a two year affair with an intern.

Growing up, my favorite athlete was Michael Jordan, who arguably could be the greatest athlete of all time to this day. It seemed everyone wanted to “be like Mike.” Over the years, it became more and more apparent that he wasn’t one that was worth idolizing either because of his adulterous relationships and problems with gambling. Even in his Hall of Fame induction speech, it seemed all Michael Jordan cared about was Michael Jordan.

All in all, how much should we really look up to sports figures? This is a great reminder to me especially because I am a parent. What kinds of people do I want my children to admire and revere? We need to really think about how character is displayed more than athletic ability. This is one of the reasons why (and I hate to say it because I’m a Chargers fan) I appreciate Tim Tebow. At least to this point, he seems to stand out as one who is not admired as much for his athletic ability but for his personal character. It is interesting in light of this how much Tebow is belittled in the media. What do we really care about anyway?

In the end, however, is it wise to lift up men to this level at all? As believers, we worship and serve Almighty God. But more than that, by His grace we enjoy a personal relationship with Him. How much greater is this than knowing any sports celebrity? We know the God of Creation because of His Son Jesus Christ (cf. 1 John 5:20)! Jesus Christ gave us understanding SO THAT we could KNOW Him who is true! Think about what an awesome privilege this is to say you know the God of the universe in a personal way.

All this scandal in the sports world should also remind us that life is all about lifting up the name of Christ and adoring Him, and not about giving undue veneration to men. We can certainly appreciate athletic ability. I know I will never dunk a basketball in my life. I can celebrate the victories of my favorite teams and the accomplishments of my favorite players. But we need to be careful not to elevate these individuals to idol status. They’re just men.