If Jesus was the Commissioner of the NFL or MLB

There were 2 huge sports stories today that involved Pete Rose and Michael Vick. New York Daily News reported that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig was considering reinstating the All Time Hit King, Pete Rose. (MLB came out later and said nothing had changed in Charlie Hustle's status) Then, the NFL announced that they were partially reinstating Michael Vick to the NFL.

I was thinking about this on the way home tonight and the thought popped into my head....What if Jesus were commissioner of the National Football League or Major League Baseball?

It's the old question "What would Jesus do?" I think we could look no further than John 8 to see what Jesus would do.

A group of Pharisees and religious leaders brought a woman who had been caught in adultery to Jesus. Verse 4-5 states "Teacher," they said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?"

Adultery in that day deserved death. Jesus knew the law. However, he comes up with a brilliant answer. Verse 7 states that Jesus "stood up again and said, "All right, stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!"

Jesus points out the same thing that Romans 3:23 points out....we are all sinners. I heard Hank Aaron say last night in his defense of Pete Rose that we all have done wrong in our lives and should be given a second chance.

God is a God of second chances. He gave a second chance to the woman that day. What she had done was horrible! According to the law, she deserved death. However, he gave her a second chance.

What these men have done is wrong.....Gambling on games you play is viewed as the unpardonable sin in Major League Baseball. Dog Fighting is a disgusting and heinous crime. However, I believe that Jesus would have given them a second chance. He wouldn't have put some sort of stipulation on it. If you act right, then we will reinstate you. We will let you back in, but you cannot manage or you have to sit out more games. No, I believe Jesus would've done the same thing that he did in John 8. He looked at the woman and he said in verse 10 "Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?" 11 "No, Lord," she said. And Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more ."

He looked at the woman and said "Go and sin no more." I believe he would look at Michael Vick and Pete Rose and say "Go and sin no more."

God will do the same thing for you too. If you are away from God, ask for forgiveness and he will say the same thing to you....."Go and sin no more." God will not make you jump through hoops.....He doesn't say "If you act right for six weeks, then you will be forgiven."

1 John 1:8-9 (NLT) "If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong."

Go and Sin No More