I guess I’ll stay on the hot news topic for another analysis. I’m still reading a little about Jim Tressel, the recently ousted football coach at The Ohio State University. Seems according to Sports Illustrated magazine that Tressel has a history of problems with players breaking the rules but has always pleaded ignorance. But things usually come out and it seems that Tressel did know about the latest transgressions and chose to not tell anyone.
This isn’t about football, OSU, the NCAA (the governing body of college athletics–for whom I have little respect), or even Tressel himself. The issue is something we all face–do we acknowledge when we have done wrong and take the consequences or do we plead ignorance and try to avoid blame?
“I didn’t know that was wrong.” “What? You mean I shouldn’t have done that?” “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
Ever try one of those? The story of Ananias and Sapphira in The Acts comes to mind. They thought they could feign ignorance and hide facts from their community and from God. They were found out.
In the end, we’re all found out. Ethics is hard. We make decisions many times a day that determine how our life will play out. Sometimes it’s easy to pretend we don’t know. But it all catches up to us.
I guess we can look at the travails of the guy who was the highest-paid state employee and take delight in his discomfort–or rush to defend.
The issue isn’t Tressel. It’s us. You and me. Will our next decision be one that we’d be proud for our grandmothers to know about? Can we face God and say we honestly tried to do right?
Faith Venture 
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