For those of you who follow professional football, significant penalties were assessed against the reigning Super Bowl champs, the New England Patriots: a $1 million fine, the loss of their first round draft pick in next year’s draft, and a four game suspension for quarterback Tom Brady. These sanctions were in response to a situation last year in the playoffs where the footballs used by the Patriots were discovered to be underinflated per the rules. Having underinflated footballs means that they are easier to grip, catch, and hold, which could lead to an unfair advantage. After an investigation the NFL found that it was “more probable than not” that Brady, the MVP of last year’s Super Bowl, was “at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities.” The evidence certainly seemed to point to the fact Brady knew what was happening and did not do anything to deter the actions of the assistants who deflated the balls. Of course, there is an appeals process and it will be pursued by Brady, so what the exact penalty for him will be remains to be seen.
As I heard the news, though, I thought about the history of the New England Patriots over the past decade or so. This is a team known for walking right up against the line regarding the rules, and there has not been another team with more complaints against it from other teams in the league. In other words, they have a reputation for seeing how close to the line they can get between playing by the rules and breaking them. Doesn’t that describe many of us? So often pastors hear questions from members of the flocks with which they have been entrusted about this very issue: “Pastor, is it OK if I go up to the line of sin and just put my big toe over it? What about my whole foot, as long as the rest of my body stays on the good side of the line?” (Anyone who has ever worked with youth know that these questions almost inevitably arise regarding physical relationships with significant others.) In counseling sessions, people can usually trace full blown sinful patterns of action in their lives all the way back to asking these very questions.
A couple of things strike me about these types of questions. First, these questions demonstrate that the person asking both knows that there is a line AND that they are flirting with crossing it. Yet so often we hear the same people suggest that they were not aware that this action was wrong or sinful. It is not that they do not know what is right and wrong; rather, they desire to know how much wrong they can get away with before it is sin. This brings up the second thing: the Bible says, “None.” Over and over, the Bible speaks to fleeing from sin (cf. 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Cor. 10:14; Heb. 12:1; Gal. 5:16; 1 Thess. 5:22, and I Cor. 6:18, to name but a few), which reminds us that God does not want us to cozy up to sin. He knows all too well the consequences of sin; after all, Jesus bore the full wrath of God the Father on the cross in our place because of sin. The question, then, is not how close you can get to sin – it’s how far can you run away from it. Just something to think about…
0 Comments