Tiger Apologizes

Reprinted from EmbraceGrace.org:

Tiger Woods told the world he was sorry yesterday.  His infidelity has turned his life upside down.  His family has been torn apart.  He has lost millions of dollars in endorsement deals.  He has left the game that he loves so much and that God has gifted him so well to play.

Reaction to Tiger’s apology are generally favorable, although there are still many taking shots at him.  So what is God’s perspective on all of this?

First of all I think it’s pretty evident to all that sin has consequences and those consequences can be painful.  The Bible is clear, ALL fall short of God’s standards.  NO ONE seeks Him, not even one.  In other words.  We are ALL guilty.  We can’t help it.  We were born that way.  All of us suffering the consequences of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden.

Our sin nature is evident.  We lie, cheat, steal, sleep around.  This is the nature of man left to his own devices.  Sin is wrong.  Transgressions are wrong.  We pay a price for the mistakes we make.  The bigger the mistake, the more damage to ourselves and those around us.

What’s worse, even the slightest mistake makes us unworthy of living in God’s presence forever.  Want to go to Heaven?  Live a perfect life.  Good luck with that.  It can’t be done by mere men and women.

Of course the good news is we don’t have to live a perfect life!  Jesus did that for us.  Since He is God, He was able to pay the price of sin for us.  Death.  Jesus died so we could live.  God cannot lie.  He promised that the penalty for sin is death.  God also promised that He loves us.  This apparent contradiction is resolved at the cross.  The price for sin is paid for by His son.  God’s love is now available to those who can’t live a perfect life.

There is only one catch.  You can’t receive an awesome gift unless you, you know, receive it.  In other words, the Bible says that we have to believe that Jesus is God, that He died for us, and rose from the dead.  If we do that then we are saved.  Romans 10:9 and 10.

Tiger made a huge mistake and he is paying a huge price for it.  I think it is right for Christians to extend love and forgiveness to a hurting person who is suffering as a result of his mistakes.  God gives us second and third  (and fourth and fifth and sixth…) chances.  We should do the same for Tiger.  Even as we hate the sin we can show love to the man.  All of us are just as guilty (maybe not of exactly the same thing, but we all have our issues).  The difference is we are now forgiven and that allows us to share God’s love with others.

The ultimate show of love is to share the good news of God’s gift available to Tiger and to anyone else who will accept it.  That’s what Brit Hume did awhile back.  It created quite a reaction, but to Brit’s credit he stuck by his words because they were true and they were spoken in love.

What about Tiger’s marriage?  Should Tiger’s wife divorce him?  The Bible is clear that infidelity is grounds for divorce.  She is well within her rights to leave Tiger if she chooses.  Forgiveness and trust are not the same thing.  Forgiveness is given, trust is earned.  Tiger is right when he says that his right actions over time are the only way that he has a chance to regain the trust of his wife.  I pray that that happens.

I, for one, will still be a Tiger Woods fan.  I hope that he has a successful life and a successful career.  Of course the ultimate success is measured by our relationship with God.  That relationship starts by accepting His free gift.  I pray that someday Tiger embraces grace.

It’s not a term you hear a lot. But I think it should be. The word “salvific” means pertaining to the power of salvation or redemption. As in, “What theological issues are actually salvific?”
As Christians it seems that sometimes we are more focused on being right than righteous. This is an understandable dilemma as we are called to “Earnestly content for the faith.” But what issues are we allowed to disagree with each other on and which ones are points where there can be no compromise, the sticking points… the dare I say issues in which we can call someone a “heretic” for disagreeing with us?
These are the salvific issues.
Salvific issues have to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Two non-salvific issues which Christians often differ on are: “How does the Christian life look?” – socialist, communist, anarchist, capitalist. And “How do we do Church?” – Pentecostal, Brethren, Baptist, Emergent. These are important issues, but are not in themselves salvific.
When having a disagreement with someone about a spiritual issue, it is important to ask, “Is this a salvific issue?”
Some things in the Christian faith are negotiable, however the Gospel is nonnegotiable!

On August 15, 1971, then president Richard Nixon ended trading of gold at a fixed rate, effectively eliminating the Bretton Woods system. At that point, our monetary system was no longer tied to a real commodity. Barring a discussion on economic theories and principals, basically, our currency was then only worth whatever we decided it was worth.

In similar fashion, but more gradually, we have moved away from what I like to call “The Christ Standard.”

According to the Pew Forum, only 59% of Evangelicals believe that the Bible is the literal and true word of God. Furthermore, 57% of Evangelicals believe that many religions lead to eternal life. While I do not know in what context “religion” was presented to respondents, regardless, those are some very sobering figures.

Here in America, the idea that there are many ways to reach heaven is quickly gaining mainstream traction. As the above figures indicate, it has even taken root in our churches.

With powerful and prominent individuals such as Oprah, who promote and peddle the teachings of Eckhart Tolle; believe that there is no one way to heaven; that by your good works, you will receive the gift of eternity. Going so far as to call herself a god, all the while professing her faith in Jesus Christ and claiming to be a Christian. It seems (in the spirit and context of this articles theme) that Oprah is trying to get her hands on a little bit of each currency, unsure which one will actually take her where she hopes to go.

Several simple questions come to mind when trying to understand the logic of such teachings. By what standard are these things measured? If we only reach heaven by our good works, then how many good works must we perform? Must each good work pass a threshold of self-sacrifice? Is there a standards bearer? If so, who is it? What is it? Are we each individually responsible for determining how many good works we must perform to reach eternity, or full-enlightenment, or whatever the heck they call it?

When methodically exterminating God’s chosen, did Hitler not believe he was doing good, if even in his own mind? What about Mao? Stalin? Napoleon? Based on the above teachings, we have to logically conclude that these individuals did reached heaven. That is exciting news isn’t it? If these evil men made it, then we’re all in great shape. Hooray!

If only Oprah, Eckhart Tolle, or our president had told Christ that there were numerous ways to heaven, He could have spared Himself from the Cross. Please don’t take that sarcasm jokingly. These people are wrong and blaspheme the words and actions of Christ Himself. They deny Him with the same breath used to claim to know Him.

However…

As shocking as this news may come to you, and regardless of opinion polls and current popular belief, salvation and eternal life can be found in no one, or thing, other than the resurrected Christ (Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9; John 3:16). But Oprah says she believes in Christ, as does Barack Obama. Right?

But wait a minute…

To believe requires more than a simple acknowledgment that He was a great teacher. C’mon! My High School Physics teacher was a great teacher. To truly confess Christ as Savior is to also confess His Deity, His Crucifixion, His Resurrection, His teachings, and His prophecies.

If Christ is not the Son of God; God manifest in the flesh; what power does He have over us? If He was not crucified, then by what power are we cleansed? If He did not resurrect Himself, then what power does He posses over death? If His prophecies are allegorical and not literal, how then, is He omniscient and sovereign?

Look at it another way. Simply denying the existence of hell is to call Christ a liar, as he spoke on the subject numerous times (Matthew 18:9; Luke 12:5). How foolish is it to claim to believe in someone you consider to be a liar? If such beliefs did not have such far reaching and eternal consequence, it would quite frankly, be laughable.

These are incredible and scary times in which we live and many are giving into these false satanic doctrines (1 Tim 4:1). Please ask yourself, in whom are you purchasing your eternal stock?