It is not who is right, it is what is right.

In light of recent egregious violations of public trust at major Universities like Penn State and Syracuse, I’ve been asked to share some guidelines for handling a difficult situation in the area of public trust.

All matters of inappropriate behavior from those in our ministry must be dealt with in light of not who is right but rather what is right.  The founder of Bob Jones University said “It is never right to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right.” And, “the two most powerful words in the English language are the little words do right.”  You know what the right thing to do is.  So do it.

Penn State knew that Joe Paterno was a legend in every aspect of the college football world and highly respected.  Conservatively, some estimate that he personally brought over 100 million dollars to Penn State.  By account, he was a man of rank and stature.  Interestingly enough none of that mattered once Penn State realized the scandal was not about assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky or Head Coach Joe Paterno, but Penn State.  What would the officials do with the information (however incomplete or accurate) they had and everybody was learning as the scandal unfolded.  All of this without the benefit of a trial, court transcripts or witnesses under oath.  They were dealing with accusations.  Momentarily, Penn State tried to offer a reasoned, logical and official statement.  I’m sure that to them it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Once the scandal went viral and every social networking site had access any further attempt to reason away or delay the inevitable was ham-handed at best.  The internet has taken scandal from word of mouth into world of mouth.  These cases of abuse and inappropriate behavior are being tried in the court of public opinion before a shred of evidence is ever offered in real court rooms.  Sadly, this is our present reality.  So we can continue to deny the reality or come up with a plan to deal with a real and present crises.

Legal counsel will remind us that we minister in loco parentis that is in place of and on behalf of the parents acting in the best interests of the child.

As such we must remove the perpetrator and neutralize the threat to the children in our care.  We must be circumspect in our associations of faculty and staff no matter who they are or who we think they are.  At this point, it doesn’t matter.  You must think of the whole ministry and if you are going to have a ministry going forward, you must distance yourself from the perpetrator and his actions.

In the case of Penn State there are tens of thousands of alumni with Penn State diplomas on display in their offices.  The parchment went from a matter of some pride to an indictment.  For a long time from now you will be hard-pressed to find that person who doesn’t associate Penn State, Joe Paterno and Jerry Sandusky with the child abuse scandal.  All of that was accomplished without an indictment, a trial, jury selection, testimony, or verdict.  It happened in the court of public opinion.

As we confront any situation like this, realize the alleged perpetrator thinks of himself as above the rules that apply to everyone else.  In this aspect they are either arrogant or ignorant, either one of which should be grounds for dismissal without remorse.  A good definition of humility is knowing your place in line because  you don’t have to be first always, or seen always or in front always.  A humble person is content to say, “follow me as I follow Christ, He must increase, I must decrease.”  Truly, it really is not about you, but the greater cause we represent.

So if you encounter a similar situation, do not defend or condemn the alleged perpetrator. Immediately remove the accused from contact with your young people. As soon as possible call authorities, if they have not already been contacted, and seek professional legal advice. Let’s set the standard for all of our ministries that we will not try to defend the indefensible.