Was it staged? Was it genuine? Did he do enough? Did he do too much? Is he sorry or is he scrambling for his professional life? One thing’s for sure, people and the press will pick apart every word Tiger Woods said today as he stood before the world to give an accounting of his adulterous lifestyle.

I am amazed at the hypocrisy of the people who stand in judgment of Tiger – which is everyone who has felt superior to him based on some sense of personal moral righteousness. (I touched on this in my previous post about Tiger Woods and Christmas). I do not condone Tiger’s actions; what he did is inexcusable. But I wonder how the rest of us would have handled the skill, money, power, and access to so many willing accomplices. In one regard the rest of  us have the great luxery of never knowing the same pressures because there is only one person in the world in such a unique position: Tiger. The irony is that the rest of us fail in so many other ways, falling just as far short of the expectations God has for us and nobody bats and eye lash. We say, “Well I have my warts, but at least I’m not as bad as Tiger.” Actually, you are a lot worse than you think. Romans 3:23 says “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” Even a single “little” sin makes us a gigantic spiritual failure in the eyes of God.

With so many people picking up stones it is worth a reminder that Jesus said “He who is without sin can cast the first stone.” Tiger has to live with himself and the consequences of what he’s done and doubtful anyone will be as hard on Tiger as he will be on himself. Unfortunately, all the therapy in the world isn’t going to remove his fundamental problem. Only repentance found in Jesus, believing He is the perfect substitute to receive punishment due us will free Tiger – and anyone else – from the bondage of sinful hearts.

(Note: posted an update located here on Feb 19 after Tiger’s press conference.)

I’m a Tiger Woods groupie (well, not in the most recently reported sense). I guess I should say I have been a groupie in the golf sense since he won his last U.S. Amateur titled and blew onto the PGA tour in the mid 90s. I’ll never forget the putt on the first hole of a three hole playoff with Bob May at the 2000 PGA Championships. He charged after the putt pointing it – willing it – into the hole. Amazing.

Of course Tiger is now totally disgraced, the butt of  jokes and today sits on a boat floating somewhere near the Bahamas. His sexcapades are the talk of tabloids and mainstream media. Whereas many people couldn’t touch him on a golf course, they now liberally fire condescending criticism at him with the accuracy Tiger fires at difficult pin placements on Sundays at majors. I find it all to be pious and self-righteous.

I can’t seem to get Tiger off my mind, probably because we bought a Wii and Tiger Woods 2010 the day before news broke of his “traffic accident.” Every time I play I think about what the guy accomplished and about what has been flushed down the toilet. It reminds me how close I am to flushing my life down the toilet because of the carnal nature that battles for prominence in my life. Wish I could say I was an exception, but there really is nothing exceptional about the evil inclinations in the human heart. Whether we admit it or not there is a bit of Tiger in us all. In fact, we don’t know – and if we did are totally unwilling to admit – what we are capable of. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Paul spends the first three chapters of Romans talking about the sickness of the human heart and spends a good part of Chapter 5 explaining to us the spring from which our sin flows. Our hearts have been wicked nearly from the beginning, which makes us enemies with a holy God. He cannot allow it, has to punish it, and spiritually filthy people can’t do anything about it. What are we to do?

Absolutely nothing, except repent and believe.

God did something on our behalf and this is why I can’t think of Tiger without thinking of Christmas. An angel appears to some shepherds and speaks the most significant words ever spoken – words Tiger needs to hear: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). If God is to save Tiger – or you, or me – there had to be Christmas. He didn’t have to send Jesus to this world as a baby to grow to a man to die for the sins of the world, but in extravagant love he chose to. Literally, Immanuel, God with us. The good news of Christmas is that a Savior was born. The good news of Christmas is that regardless of what Tiger has done he can be set free from his sin. So can you.

Yes, it is easy to fire heat seeking missiles at Tiger, but what we each need is to – in great humility – admit we are spiritual failures – like Tiger – and this Christmas embrace the good news of a born Savior.

Scan the world’s headlines this week and you’ll find news coming from the International Conference on Climate Change discussing melting ice caps, decaying ozones and rising global temperatures that will evaporate water and leave billions of people starving by 2025. Al Gore tried to warn us of the Inconvenient Truth three years ago, winning Oscars, Grammys and Nobel Prizes along the way. Al and friends have twisted information to convince us of what we should already know: Global warming is my fault. And its your fault.

Al laid the blame for global warming in the right place – on us – but got the cause all wrong. The real Inconvenient Truth is that the Apostle Paul outed us nearly 2,000 years ago. God created global warming because of our sin. Read it: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it” (Romans 8:20; italics mine). God subjected creation to decay nearly from the beginning when He doled out punishment to Adam and Eve in the garden in Genesis 3. God created global warming right there in verse 17,: “…cursed is the ground because of you.”

Now I don’t fault Al for missing the truth. The irony here is that humanism actually gets it right for a change. Humans are the problem, although one would be hard pressed to get Al and his liberal friends to agree to the reality communicated in Scripture. As easy as it would be I am not going to pontificate too harshly against people whose greatest need is to embrace the truth of the gospel.

Instead, I’ll lay verbal wood to those who ought to know better: Supposed Christians who are on “save the earth” missions. Let me say from the outset the fact that God has subjected the earth to a curse does not excuse us from our need to be better stewards. On the contrary. As Christians we ought to be exemplary stewards of God’s creation (I violated all kinds of cultural protocols last year while in Uganda by lecturing some Ugandan believers for consistently tossing their trash to the sides of roads). That said, the UK is dangerously close to being brought into subjection by environmentalists and they have heavy support from all kinds of churches, not just the Church of England (although I will say I’ve been in three C of E churches and it appears their prominent agenda is colored green).

For example, here are three prayer requests from the C of E church I was in this morning listed, for a special-called prayer meeting exclusively for this week’s conference:

• Pray for a new treaty in Copenhagen that protects God’s creation from climate change
• Give praise for positive changes in the US. Pray for Obama’s team as they try to influence public opinion
• Pray that richer countries will agree to deep cuts in emissions and financial support to developing countries.

What do these three have in common? Answer: They seek human solutions to a spiritual problem. It matters not a single measure of particulate matter how much human institutions change laws designed to protect God’s creation from climate change, or how influential a human leader is in swaying public opinion, or how much money wealthy countries throw at developing countries. Man CANNOT undo the curse.

Increasingly churches in the US are as guilty of misplaced priorities as churches in the UK. “Christians” who ought to know their Bibles better are partnering with the world, seeking to solve the world’s problems with the wisdom of man. Instead, Christians ought to pray for the changed hearts of men from a state of pure rebellion against their Creator (Romans 1:18-32) to one of repentance and humility before God. Upon praying, they should then invest their energy in sharing the Good News that through faith in Christ alone God forgives sin, lifts the curse and adopts us as sons and daughters.

The truth is the world is in rapid decay and its only hope is found in the One who created all things. That hope is not found in the wisdom of man but in the folly of the cross.

What is the point of Christmas? Honestly it is a question every Christian should ask themselves during this time of the year with the hope that if they profess Christ they’ll get the answer right. I want to write more on that topic in the coming week because the question is one I want to reflect upon in the context of the UK, a Christmas-crazy nation with little emphasis on even the religious, let alone Christ.

But in the midst of that there was today. Our daughter’s school choir sang at the local Church of England Church, Holy Trinity. Part of the emphasis during this Advent season here in the UK is the Christingle. She leaned over and asked, “Dad, what’s a Christingle?” I confess that after receiving her orange with the candle stuck in it and gumdrops skewered with cocktail toothpicks poked in the sides that my answer to her question was a profound, “I have no idea.”

But Google knows so that is what I did. One of the cool things about living in the UK and Europe is the religious tradition surrounding various days, such as All Souls’ Day and Christmas.The Christingle is one of those traditions – along with All Souls’ Day that we in America seen fall to the side. I won’t repeat here what Wikipedia states about Christingle, but do think it is worth saying that the symbolism of the world, Christ as the light of it, the red ribbon for his blood, etc., is a picture of the gospel held in the hand. When the angels said that they brought good news that would be for all the world, they were proclaiming the gospel. Christ – the Saviour of the world – had come. Holding an orange and lighting a candle should be cause to reflect on the “point” of Christmas.

What does it mean to live a life worthy of the gospel?

I’ve been chasing that question for about two months now. Some journeys take longer than others. There is simply too much to see.

I’ve been reading through Philippians but haven’t made it much past 1:27. That verse begins with the admonishment to “live in a manner worthy of the gospel.”

So, what does that mean? A similar question is: “What does it mean to be a Christian?”

Here’s why the questions are so important: There are people in the world who appear to be genuinely good people. I’m thinking of two as I write this. One is a Frenchman, Charles, who was the overnight manager at the hotel in which we stayed our first two nights in the UK. The second was a Thai waiter at a restaurant in the city near where we live. He went beyond service to helpfulness. These types of people deserve an answer to why their “goodness” isn’t good enough.

The first thought I had was, “What makes me better than them?” Immediately God reminded me there are no “good” people in the world.  A rush of Scripture verses flooded my mind reminding me and reprimanding me that I am not better than anyone: “There are NONE righteous, no not one…no one seeks for God” (Rom 3:10-11); “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23); “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph 2:1-3).

The reality is that EVERY person who has every lived and will ever live stands squarely in the sites of God’s judgment. God is a good and benevolent God, yet a more accurate reading of the Bible forces one to deal with the reality that God is also a righteous and just God who is perfectly holy and requires perfect holiness.

God quickly reminded me that it was by His grace (Eph 2:4), through faith He granted that I have the opportunity to believe in what Jesus has done (Eph. 2:8), which was to satisfy God’s penalty for sin by being a perfect and righteous sacrifice (Rom 3:21-26). I contributed nothing but sin. He contributed perfect righteousness. Martin Luther called it “The Great Exchange.”

There is a path near my house that leads to the open area I often walk. The path is often mucky because of water runoff. Decomposing leaves contribute to the mess. Life is like that path. It is mucky. We experience disappointment, hardship, broken relationships, lost jobs, financial ruin, unmet expectations, etc., but these are actually byproducts of our greatest problem, which according to the Bible, is our separation from God. There is no hope that the mucky paths of life lead anywhere except to God’s judgment apart from Jesus. But it doesn’t have to.

So, what does it mean to be a Christian? I’ve settled on two things.

First, it means to glorify God. (Notice I didn’t say removal from the mucky path!) That’s what we were created for anyway. We were created to have fellowship with God, enjoying His presence and glorifying Him as infinitely worthy of our praise. As enemies of God we can’t do this, but once He grants salvation and restores for us what He intended from the beginning, then we are free to praise Him and make Him known to others walking life’s mucky path if they will turn from sin and believe in Jesus.

Second, as a Christian it means living in the reality that this world is NOT our home. I’ve met way too many Christians who talk about eternal life, being sojourners in this world, heavenly mansions, etc., yet live like this world is their destination. They cling to the materialism of this world and try to anchor their hearts to something tangible. We want to stop in the muck. I’ve been there. God has graciously taught me that my heart does want to anchor to something tangible, but that tangle thing MUST be unwavering confidence in the finished work of Christ that looks forward to the reality of delivered promises (Hebrews 11:1).

The mucky path near my house eventually opens into a field ringed with wild blackberries and gorgeous views of the countryside. Every living person is traveling the mucky path of life. However, a life worthy of the manner of the gospel ought to be a life lived in the recognition of our calling to glorify God (including sharing His glory with others) while looking forward to open the spaces that lie ahead.