Saturday

Thoughtful Thursday: Tattle Tale

I despise when my children, or any child for that matter, comes running to me and then proceeds to list numerous "offenses" that their sibling or another child has done to them. My children know that they need to come tell me if someone has injured them or is putting their well-being at risk. I'm not talking about serious issues here; I'm referring what most adults call being a "tattle tale". Why do I hate it so much? Because the reason children or even adults do this is because we want to watch someone else get in trouble. As human beings we seem to have this perverse need to watch others "fall from grace" so to speak. Why do I hate this aspect of human character so much? For a couple of reasons, first as a Christian my duty is to help the sinner not to glory in them getting caught. Second, having been one to "fall from grace" more times than I care to admit, I don't think enjoying someone's downfall is a very kind thing to do in general.

However, our culture seems to have no problem enjoying those who are esteemed fall from the top. We revel in stories of actors and actresses losing it all because of their bad behavior. Finding out that politicans and others in power have secrets that destroy their lives and careers seem to make us feel better about ourselves. An entire genre of entertainment called "reality television" has been introduced so that we can sit at home and watch as others destroy their lives and parade around their sinful behavior for our amusement. And where has all of this taken us?

A recent news story has taken being a tattle tale to an entirely new level. Tim Tebow has had a bounty placed on him, not on his life, but on his virginity. Tebow is an outspoken, Christian NFL player who has received a lot of flack for his in-your-face type of Christianity. In college Tim made it known that as part of his Christianity he is waiting until he is married to have sex. Now a website devoted to helping couples cheat on each other (which is an entirely other ball of wax!) is offering one million dollars to any woman who can prove that she has slept with Tim Tebow. They feel confident that they will have to pay out since Tebow will now be living in New York, and they believe will be unable to resist the city's temptations. And so for one million dollars you could be the ultimate tattle tale.

There are a lot of things that I could say about how disgusting and sad this offer is, but the apostle Paul said it much better in Romans 1:28-32:

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

I dont' know whether Tim Tebow will give in to tempation and have sex with one of the thousands of women who will probably be throwing themselves at him 24/7 now, but I hope he doesn't. What astounds me more is that our culture continues to find more and more joy in things that God calls sinful. This bounty on Tim Tebow's virginity is just another example of America's joy of the sinful.


Praying in the treehouse for Tim Tebow, and everyone committed to obeying God, to be strong in the Lord,

Chelli

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