Gary's Newsletter 363: Tiger Woods and Baby Jesus

TIGER WOODS AND BABY JESUS

Maybe you have seen the advertisement in a magazine or on an airport billboard. A photo shows Tiger Woods standing on a rock next to a pond. He is looking at his golf ball in a place where a shot would be almost impossible. Across the top of the photo are these words: It's what you do next that counts.

You need not be a golfer to know how Tiger Woods has self-destructed in the past month. His reputation, credibility, marriage and career have all collapsed. Like so many other famous athletes, business people, politicians and pastors, Woods apparently assumed he could engage in selfish, immoral behavior without being caught or without facing the consequences.

A recent article in Scientific American Mind (December 2009) asks "Why high-IQ people do dumb things." Cognitive psychologists and neurobiologists try to find explanations but they fail to mention that we all do dumb things. Tiger Woods seems to have fallen harder and farther because he was so famous, admired, and high at the top of his game. But we are all fallen creatures, able to rationalize our foolish behavior and justify what some among us still call sin.

That is where Jesus enters the picture. He came on that first Christmas to show us how to live and how to find forgiveness. He came to give us life that is abundant and eternal (John 10:10; 3:16). This weekend millions will celebrate Christmas with no awareness of its true significance. Millions will face a week of loneliness, gluttony, greed, depression, family conflict, pressure, and sadness. Maybe Tiger Woods will be among them. Maybe your clients or friends are there. Maybe you are there as well.

My wish and prayer for all who read these words is that you will experience an inner peace at this special time of year and that you will know the true meaning of Christmas. Christ came to earth to live within us and among us. He came to give life and direction to all who commit to him. How do we or our clients respond to this? It's what you do next that counts.