She Could Have Known

Reporter Inez Sainz, who calls herself the hottest reporter in Mexico, entered the Jets' locker room after a tense game against the Baltimore Ravens (which they lost.) She got "harassed" by the players, and Jets' owner Woody Johnson, has publically apologized. I don't condone unwelcome sexual advances of any kind, and the apology publically upholds that ideal of our culture. The men were out of line.

On the other hand, she said she wasn't too concerned about what happened…understandably. That kind of behavior in Mexico is quite common and not seen as offensive. Perhaps they have a better sense of the real vs. the ideal. Ideally players will act the gentleman and ignore the cleavage and the tight jeans. Reality, however, is often quite different. Football is driven by testosterone, in the males who play and in the males who watch. (The women's side of that story is another one altogether.) Pumped up like that, they go into their "cave" (the locker room) to nurse their wounds, and low and behold, into their space comes a female, an attractive one at that, wearing what our culture deems suggestive clothing. We men are culturally and physiologically wired to be the initiators. Granted, the substance of the initiative behavior was out of bounds, and is not OK, but it is certainly understandable given the circumstances.

If she doesn't want this to happen in the future (which is not at all clear at this point) perhaps she shouldn't combine testosterone with suggestion. After all, we men are rather hard-wired to be the initiators.

But it does launch the dialog about the ideal vs. the real. Ideally we are redeemed in Christ, fully forgiven and acceptable to a holy God. Reality, however, is that we continue to struggle against sin. We must be honest about both, and we must not confuse the two. And finally, we must recognize that our struggling is a grace given by God, and even our failings can work His will in the world. What that will might be in terms of Sainz and the Jets is yet to be seen, but perhaps it can help us not be so uptight about our own failings without losing sight of the goal.