I have a distinct memory when I was in elementary school and there were some kids around me misbehaving. Now, don’t get me wrong, I usually held my own when it came to misbehaving in school, but this time, I was actually doing what I was supposed to be doing. The teacher’s solution to the situation: move me! I was incensed! I was not the problem and yet I was the one paying the price! It was not fair!
Lately, with all the spill out of the Jerry Sandusky verdict and the NCAA sanctions against Penn State, we’re hearing a lot of empathy toward the current students of Penn State who are the ones feeling the direct effects. No question, it isn’t fair to them. But fairness is a myth!
History is filled with examples of innocent people who have had to pay the price for those in leadership.
As leaders, whether it’s in the role of parent, ministry leader or as a leader in your workplace, remember that your actions do not only affect you. You may cheat and cut a corner today and you may get away with it for years, but the other shoe always drops. The price is always paid. Far too often, it is the innocent that pay the biggest price.
There are times when you will feel unjustly treated. Times when the actions of others adversely affect you. Times when you pay the price for the bad decisions of others. Times when the guilty seem to go free, and the innocent pay the price.
You are not alone!
Think of the times in Scripture that the wrong people paid the price for the sin of others.
- Census taken and thousands died because the Israelites were not supposed to count the fighting men (1 Chron. 21)
- Achan sinned but soldiers died when they attacked the City of Ai (Josh. 7)
- David sinned with Bathsheba and Uriah died (2 Sam. 11)
I sinned and Jesus paid the price.
It isn’t fair…
