The Fall of a Giant

Penn State University removed a 900-pound statue of Joe Paterno from outside their stadium over the weekend. Oh how the mighty fall.
       Paterno's legacy as football coach of the Penn State Nitany Lions has been tarnished or possibly decimated due to the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse case.
       So how should we respond to this situation, to the unfolding consequences to a terrible tragedy in the lives of so many people?
       Let's first agree how not to respond:
* We must not have a posture of, "Paterno got what he deserved" with the removal of the statue or the sanctions against PSU. That reflects a level of vengeance that I fear causes decay in our own souls;
* We cannot justify Paterno's inaction or culpability;
* We must not lose our compassion toward victims, perpetrators, and bystanders of this tragedy.
       One of the redeeming things we can do is (re)learn crucial lessons about how we should live, how we should relate to collegiate athletics, how leaders should live their lives and carry out their work.
       Here are some lessons I take away and want to apply to my own world:
1. I am no better. I do not know what I would have done if I was in Joe Paterno's shoes. I say this because I believe as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said, "The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man." Sorry folks, we are all very, very broken and sinful people.
2. With great power comes great responsibility. (to quote Peter Parker's uncle in Spiderman) Joe Pa had become larger than life in the Penn State world (and beyond). The 900-pound statue depicted that; it became an icon to Paterno's power and greatness. In my opinion, it is just wrong for a football coach (or other leader) to have such stature and power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely - and all the time.
3. The heart of leadership is influence - for good or bad. I am humbled, saddened, and scared by the Penn State situation. Paterno, Sandusky, the university president, the board chairman were leaders who exerted tremendous influence on many people's lives. The very fabric of leadership is influence - exercise it with great potential blessing to people or great potential damage to them. It is a sobering lesson for me.
4. I must choose for my heart to be transformed. Good leadership is impossible without a transformed heart. Transformation in my life has been a slow and arduous process. Perhaps it always will be. Jesus is the only one who can transform us into leaders who lead with integrity, and honor, and dependability, and grace. I look at the Penn State situation and I see people whose hearts were not transformed, and that ultimately leads to a huge fall.