Why Are We All Either Condemning or Supporting Tiger Woods?
April 9, 2010 by Bob Regnerus
I get it. Tiger is a celebrity. He’s probably the best golfer that ever lived, even though purists are going to throw Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer up into that debate. Never mind that – he’s the most recognizable athlete, nay, most recognizable person in the world since Michael Jordan, and he’s worth a lot of money, both to himself and his corporate sponsors.
I’m quite amused at the level of debate people seem to be willing to engage in regarding the personal habits and shortcomings of another person. In fact, these debates are heated and passionate, as if they personally knew Tiger Woods and really cared for the man. It’s either someone totally condemning him for what he did, or someone who is passionately backing him to balance out the negative energy.
Here’s my question – why do people feel that they need to judge Tiger Woods for what he’s done to himself, those women, his wife, and his child?
It’s almost as if people feel BETTER about themselves because someone REALLY REALLY famous has a sex addiction and is screwing up their life. Because if Tiger Woods, the richest most successful celebrity athlete did THAT, then my life in comparison must not be too bad.
I don’t cheat on my wife,
I don’t have sex with dozens of women,
I don’t make that kind of money,
I didn’t let millions of people down,
Hey, my life looks pretty darn good! I’m going to go on sports talk radio and not only judge Tiger for his personal life struggles, I’m also going to comment on how Tiger no longer represents “golf” in the purist sense of the word. Now that Tiger has admitted to being a broken person, he no longer is qualified to golf on tour and do what God made him to do.
HE’S GOT TO PAY FOR HIS ACTIONS, SO HE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO GOLF ANYMORE.
How friggin pompous and judgemental is that attitude? Is what Tiger Woods did bad? Yes, it was. Was what Tiger did any worse than a man who cheats on his wife in private, get hammered and goes into work hungover the next day, a father who yells at his son for not doing his homework right, a boss who belittles his employees?
Right there, I bet many of you are weighing the scales. You’re making a judgement call on which actions are worse than others, and you line yourself and others up on the “sin scale” and figure out who better and worse.
I’m damn glad that my God doesn’t do this, because from what he tells me, all have sinned and fall short. We’re all condemned because of what we do, no matter how small or big. To say that we sin less than someone else makes us feel good, but when we compare ourselves to other “perfect saints” we suddenly feel guilty, unworthy, and condemned ourselves.
I don’t condone what Tiger did – heck Tiger doesn’t condone what he did. Shame on people for judging the man and sentencing him because “he deserves it”. Double shame on any Christians that are talking about Tiger at work, at church, or any place and passing judgement.
Perhaps we forget that Resurrection Day is not a yearly event – it’s actually THE DAY that changed human destiny. We’re no longer condemned for our sins and the stuff we do. We no longer have to play judge, jury, and executioner for wrong doing. We no longer have to practice SIN MANAGEMENT and constantly take account of our actions.
We’re FREE. I’m free. You’re free. Tiger Woods is free.
We’re wasting our time by judging Tiger Woods, judging others, and judging ourselves. God knows how weighty the process of judgment is and how it can destroy humans. That’s why he doesn’t want us to do it. It would kill us.
Let’s let him handle Tiger Woods. Let’s let him handle that SOB that drives you crazy at work. Let’s let him deal with me and I can get out of the way.
You’d be surprised how true Romans 8 is – “There’s no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.”
Enjoy this video from 2 of the coolest dudes on the planet. these guys are typically spot on, usually funny, and always entertaining and convicting. It talks about how we judge ourselves and walk through life like condemned people.
Go live free.
Peace.
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I came very close to “unsubsribing” from your newsletter just from having read the question “should Tiger Woods be allowed to play this weekend”. I was somewhat relieved over the text of the article and feel 1 Timothy 1:15 would have been a good addition.
That said, I feel the subject of the email was cheap ploy to attract to your site. A more honest approach would have been “why we should NOT judge Tiger Woods”. I liked the article, just not the means that got me to read it.
I agree we are not Tiger’s judge. Just curious what you meant by saying Tiger Woods is free? He is only free if he is in Christ and I don’t believe he has made such a confession.
You’re defining deviancy down, just like the liberal media. You’re part of the problem, and just how America got into this downward death spiral. According to your logic, we might as well just empty the prisons. By the way, infidelity was a crime, before your lot defined it down. Now, onward to homosexual marriage. Because, HEY, who are we to judge?
About two dozen states still have criminal adultery provisions. While prosecutions remain rare, they do occur