On Tuesday the NCAA began to restore the number of scholarships it stripped Penn State’s Football program last year. It’s an incremental increase in scholarships from now until 2016 in which it’ll be at the regular number each football program can have.
What am I talking about and why were the scholarships stripped in the first place? Well, in case you missed it, they were stripped of scholarship and other things because the NCAA severely punished the current football program for inexcusable and disgusting actions that a retired football coach did while he worked for a Charity at the Penn State football complex. Penn State’s football program was punished for the Administration turning what many called a blind eye to this matter.
The course of action the NCAA took on Tuesday was made possible “based on the significant progress that Penn State has made to date in its compliance and reform efforts” (link here). Penn State was rewarded for doing a great job at making the necessary changes recommended to them.
Ok so this is interesting news, but what does this have to do with Student Ministry?
Here’s what. As Student Ministers, we’ve all done wrong things before and have gotten in trouble…it’s just part of being in Student Ministry actually. Or am I the only one who has been called into the Senior Pastor’s office on a Monday morning?
Maybe you got in trouble with a student, or a parent or your supervisor. And maybe it got you in the doghouse where there is a closer eye on you now, making sure you don’t mess up again. Whatever it may be, we’ve all gotten in trouble before.
My encouragement based on what happened from personal experience and from Penn State on Tuesday is that just because you get in trouble, doesn’t mean you are doomed. You can still make it right. You can still get out of the doghouse and make right what went wrong. It may take time, so don’t rush it. Don’t make people forgive and forget after the 1st week or so. Give it time, work your tail off at making sure it doesn’t happen again and be consistent at doing the right thing.
George Mitchell, a former U.S. senator, who monitored Penn State for the past 14 months said this about them, “Penn State has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to fulfilling the requirements of the athletics integrity commitment”. He went on to further say that “the amount of time, energy and resources devoted to these efforts have been notable.”
Again, what you may have done might have gotten you in trouble. But it doesn’t have to keep you in the doghouse. Work on your weak areas and strive to make improvements. If you are consistent and work on taking the right steps, it will be noticeable, notable and hopefully forgiveness and grace will accompany it as you make it right.
Thoughts? Experiences? Post a comment below so we can all learn and benefit from each other.]]>