Is Matthew Johns a Victim?

The Four Corners programme screened on the ABC last Monday night, highlighted the sordid details of a number of unsavoury sexual encounters involving Rugby League players. One of those players was Matthew Johns, who has lost his job at Channel 9 on the 'Footy Show' due to his involvement in a sexual encounter back in 2002 in Christchurch, NZ, when he was playing for the Cronulla Sharks. It has led to huge public comment on a wide front.  
To be perfectly honest the thing that has struck me the most is the hypocrisy of the whole situation. All of a sudden everyone is a morals campaigner- all of a sudden everyone wants to make the call that group sex is wrong whether it is with consent or not. All of a sudden everyone is talking about treating women with respect and that they shouldn't be treated as a sexual object and so on. I totally agree but all the while we have a society that upholds and supports the pornographic industry, we have a society that says have sex whenever and wherever you like - so long as it is consensual. And then they wonder why these sorts of things happen! What do they expect when ours is a society that glorifies sex in its various forms outside of marriage? The problem isn't limited to the NRL it is a societal problem! Who is to say what sexual behaviour is acceptable and what is not? Clearly there are some legal limits but after that it is one mans opinion versus another as to what is acceptable or not.

The bottom line is that this story highlights yet again that our society has lost its moral and spiritual compass. Throw God out of the equation and this is inevitably where we will end up with each man doing what is right in his own eyes. It is true of this issue and many others. God is the one - who alone can tell us how we best live - and he has done that in his word the Bible. We as a society have ignored it at our peril. Not only that, he has sent his Son to die for us so that there is forgiveness and freedom from guilt for all who turn to him.  
People can argue all they like about where to draw the line in the sand - in terms of moral conduct. But God has the final say in his word and there is little room for anyone to take the moral high ground, 'for all have sinned and for short of the glory of God.'  
Yes, let's pray for the women in the story and Matthew Johns that they might find Christ and the healing he offers. And, yes, let's hope the NRL can clean up their act, and bring about a cultural change to the game. But in the end we need to have a society that recognises that the best and only place for sex is within the marriage relationship and no where else. When society finally embraces that Biblical truth - then women will have the respect that they deserve. Sex outside of marriage is not only denegrading to women but men as well. It is not what God designed for us.
So Christians do have something to offer the world. We need to be vocal in humbly pointing people to God's Life Guide - the Bible, and to God's ultimate rescue package in the person of Jesus - who alone can bring light into our dark and depraved society. He did it for us - he longs to do it for others.                                                                                                                                    Michael