In the wake of the scandal at PSU, it’s easy to cast judgment and blame around a number of individuals. Arguably the one we have the most emotion over is the head coach of almost 50 years, Joe Paterno. The unsettling truth of his lack of initiative and accountability has left us saddened and heart sick. Say it ain’t so, Joe.

What we have come to discover is that behind the appearances of integrity, behind the coke-bottle glasses of honor, we found the most disappointing reality: Joe Paterno is human. And humans let each other down. Humans make mistakes. Humans fail.

Most of us can’t go 84 years before we let someone down. That was a gift of longevity. I'm lucky to make it a week before I do something bone-headed that disappoints my wife.

But at some point, every human lets another one down. Maybe it’s not in spectacular ways like this event; maybe it’s in the quiet realization between two people or a small group of friends. But at some moment, we will wrestle with sobering judgment that our best interest, or the best interest of another, was not met – in some cases not even close.

In the case of Joe Pa, it was the shattering truth that he could have done more. He didn’t measure up to our standards, or even his own. He failed at a moment when we desperately wanted him to succeed, and where he rightfully should have. When the news broke, and the sobering certainty sunk in, we had that collective thought of “oh no, not him too.” Yes, him too.

The fault doesn’t lay so much in Paterno as it does in our rendering him semi-angelic. We thought he was above the fray. We thought he’d always give his best and do what’s best. We always considered him untouchable by scandal, untaintable with the muck of human muddle. Now we know better.

What it reveals is that, once again, our leaders will fall short.

They will not measure up.

They will fail when we want or expect them to come through for us.

Their dark sides will be revealed and exposed at an extremely ugly moment of truth.

They will demonstrate themselves to be human.

Only a third of the leaders in the Bible finished well. The rest tubed it, whether through egregious sinfulness or a burnout and fade-away process. That should cause us to sit up and take notice about how dependent we become with the leaders in which we place inordinate trust.

Perhaps that is why we read in Psalms 146:3 the following: "Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save." It also says in 118:8-9 that "It is better to trust the LORD than to put confidence in people. It is better to trust the LORD than to put confidence in princes."

Unfortunately, Joe Pa joins the swelling ranks of many leaders of groups or institutions that have blown it, dropped the ball, or stepped into a trap of self-selection.

The Catholic church has been embroiled in its own leadership crisis for years, amplified now due to the sex scandals in its halls. It faces a daunting future because of the loss of integrity among its clergy as perceived by the general public. Now all priests have to bear the tainted stain of the evil that some did. And their numbers grow smaller in the process.

Other denominations are not immune either. I’ve seen a number of high profile leaders of protestant churches or para-church organizations step down from their role because of moral failure or an abuse of power.

At one point in the last presidential election, President Obama was viewed with almost messianic reverence, as if he could do no wrong. Now, three years later, we see he’s no different from the rest.

All leaders let us down. All leaders are human. All leaders have to fight their own dark issues in their soul. Most do reasonably well. But sooner or later, they are going to make a mistake. They will choose unwisely. They will look the wrong way down a one-way street.

We just need to remind ourselves of Whom it is we can trust without reservation, without the fear of mistakes, without the anxious worry of wondering if someday we will wake up and see that we put all of our eggs in the wrong basket.