Friday, February 19, 2010

Lions and Tigers and... Lambs? Oh My!

In case you have been under a rock these past few weeks, Tiger Woods, the icon of the golfing world for the past two decades, has fallen. And fallen big. A short newsbreak about a mysterious car accident spiralled in a matter of days into a full-blown scandal as tale after shocking tale of marital infidelity came to light.

As I made my way to work several weeks after the scandal broke, I tuned my radio to a popular sports station and was greeted by a discussion on Tiger's upcoming press conference. Now, it is telling that Tiger's agent chose to schedule the conference during the height of the Winter Olympics - undoubtedly to divert as much attention away from the scandal as possible. Even more telling, perhaps was the fact that, in spite of the fact that the conference occurred in the midst of the Games, it was the number one sports story of the day. The discussion the morning of the conference centered around the types of fans that would tune in to hear the statement, and what they would want to hear Tiger say.

The first group of fans, contended show's host, would be the die-hard Tiger fans. To their mind, Tiger didn't owe a thing to anyone - except his wife - and any apology Tiger might give should stay between them.

The second group would be the those on the far right; nothing Tiger could say will appease them. He will remain a pariah to them, shunned for the remainder of his public life.

Still a third group of fans would be the fence-sitters. They want to forgive Tiger, but they need to hear him say the right things. What things? Simply that he messed up and is sorry, and that he'll try to do better from here on out.

The fourth and saddest group of people are those who really don't care one way or another about Tiger; they just want to hear the dirt; the juicy details of where, when, and with whom. They are the voyeurs, vicariously living the lives they perhaps wish they could live - through their favorite (or simply most controversial) celebrities.

So which of those groups should we as Christians fall into? Hopefully, none of the above. You see, Tiger's life could be seen as a microcosm of an essay, a poem by the wisest of all earthly kings - the Book of Ecclesiastes. Like Solomon, Tiger had it all (though on a much smaller scale): success, wealth, beautiful homes and boats, even women wherever he went. What have all of those things brought him? By all appearances, not enough to satisfy him. As Christians, what should we hope to hear Tiger say? My hope would be for something like this:

" I had it all.
I had more money than I could spend in a lifetime, and it left me empty.
I reached the pinnacle of success in my field and raised it, and I wanted more.
I had any woman I wanted, but each encounter just made me hungrier.
I had mysticism and meditation, but the peace they brought me was fleeting.
I had it all.
And I had nothing.
I would gladly trade it all for a sip of the water the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God, offered the woman at the well."

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14)

Tiger, the water is cleaner than any spring water; fresh, cool, and yours for the asking. Won't you come take a drink?

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