PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

July 24, 2024

DEALING WITH IT

The primary focus of “The Mike and Mike In the Morning” ESPN radio and television sports talk show Tuesday, July 19^th, was the suspension of USC running back Marc Tyler for one game.  Tyler had answered several questions about the USC football program asked by a person holding a camera phone.  It did not take long for the remarks to find their way to the web.  The school administration did not take kindly to his remark about being able to make more playing for USC than the pros in light of the school’s recent history of football infractions.

Mike Greenberg, a Northwestern graduate who never played college sports, thought the whole incident was a shame.  For Greenberg it is too bad that we live in a time when almost everything we do, especially if one is a public figure, can easily become public knowledge.  Privacy would no longer seem possible.

Mike Golic who played both college and pro football also thought it was a shame but went on to say that this is the reality with which public persons have to deal.  It is something for which all those in the limelight have to deal.

Golic has two sons, Mike and Jake, who play football for Notre Dame.  Over and over he keeps warning them that they should not do anything that they would not want to see on the front page of the South Bend Tribune.

Someone has made the observation that the true character of a person is measured by how he or she behaves when no one is watching.  At such times one’s actions are guided by one’s core values and beliefs.  In unguarded moments these same primary guiding principles can publically reveal themselves.

Every day we learn that more and more of our conduct and activities are making their way into the public arena.  Almost everything we buy is tracked by someone to develop a profile of us that can be used by marketers.  E-mails appear on our computers, unsolicited phone calls appear on our call identification, and junk mail arrives in mail boxes which were generated by these lists.

With the new generation of camera phones, one can never be sure when one is being recorded.  Privacy, especially beyond the doors of our home, seems to be a thing of the past.  With today’s mobility one can almost expect to run into someone one knows almost anywhere.  Most of our life has become an open book for anyone to read.

At the end of chapter ten of I Corinthians Paul discusses whether one should eat food offered to idols.  His audience is those who know that idols have no real existence.  While it may not bother their conscience to consume such food, their example may cause someone who believes the idols do exist to have a crisis of conscience.  Paul concludes his discussion as follows: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” (I Corinthians 10:31)

If one does everything for the glory of God, there is no need to worry that someone might discover what we say or do.  One would have nothing to hide.  The truth is that from God’s perspective there is no such thing as privacy.  He is aware of all our actions and knows our very thoughts.  Adam’s attempt to hide from him in the garden after the fall was totally unsuccessful.

Most of us are unhappy with the loss of privacy.  Complaining can help us get our anger off our chests.  In the need we need to deal with this lack of privacy by making sure that we do all things to the glory of God.  We will not find ourselves in the compromising situations such as the one which caused Marc Tyler to be suspended.

(This article was originally published July 24, 2011.  Comments may be sent to davidh15503@embarqmail.com.)