Bounty turned bad

(bounty is not just the quicker picker upper)

The New Orleans Saints are in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. It seems one of their defensive coaches created a system of payments to players for stellar plays like interceptions and fumble recoveries. The system offered payments for “knock outs” and “cart offs” as well. These intentional injuries to other players have caused quite a stir in the court of public opinion as one might expect.

The odd thing is the NFL seems to find the largest problem not with the injurious behavior, but rather with the fact that these payments constitute an illegal bonus payment, falling outside the collective bargaining agreement. It’s not the egregious behavior…it’s the technicality that gets them.

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:31-32

I’m sure we can each find example after example of sinful behavior tripped up by a technicality. I suppose the lesson is that try as they might the organizations and governments that oversee our lives can’t really control our behavior by creating rules and regulations. They can set the boundaries, but not change the hearts and minds of the people. The heart change can only come from within and Christ gave us the gold standard as Paul pointed out so well.

Let’s strive not for technical compliance…but rather for genuine love and compassion. That’s a bounty worth having!



Thanks for all you do.

Brian
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Volume 6, Number 36