Tiger Woods' "Confession"

I find the British media coverage of Tiger Woods' public confession of his unfaithfulness, and his apology to the world, really interesting. In 'The Guardian', Owen Gibson's straightforward account of events was relegated to p3, whereas Zoe Williams' 'sketch' version was on the front page. It seems that many Brits just can't understand why Woods did this. Firstly, it insults our notions of being reserved and private about such matters. Secondly, we have so divorced sexual morality from the public sphere that many people are thinking: 'Why did he need to apologise?'

Gibson quotes Woods:

"I knew my actions were wrong but I convinced myself normal rules didn't apply. I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead I thought only about myself. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me... I was wrong. I was foolish. I don't get to play by different rules."

In many ways, I'm sure we can all relate to what he said. There are times when we know something is wrong, but we go ahead and do it anyway. Our motives are purely selfish. But sometime or other, there are consequences for our actions. For Tiger Woods, those consequences erupted unpleasantly when he crashed his car. Soon evidence for a string of affairs was uncovered by the media. But there are other times when our wrong actions go undiscovered.

The Bible tells us plainly that all of us will have to stand before God and give an account of our lives (Matthew 12:36). God sees everything we do, say and even all that we think as well (Gen 6:5, 1 Chron 28:9, Psalm 139:2, Mt 12:25). It's not our place to make the rules about what's right and wrong. That was Adam and Eve's mistake in Eden: God declared that taking the fruit was wrong, and they decided otherwise. But the result of this was that sin and death came into the world. The existence of death, suffering and pain points us towards the fact that we stand under God's judgement. Why? Because we've pushed God out of His rightful place. We've snatched His crown and tried to put it on our own heads. We've rejected His right to rule in our lives.

But even if we go through life rejecting God's rules, they will still apply to us in the end. We don't get to play by different rules. There will be a Judgement Day, and if we've rejected God, then we face an eternity of being rejected by Him (Matthew 7:23).

There is punishment for those who reject God. But when Jesus died on the cross, He made a way for us to be set free. We have two choices:

1. Take God's punishment on ourselves
2. Let Jesus take God's punishment for us

If we truly believe and trust that Jesus has died for our wrong attitude towards God, then we can be reconciled to God through Him. Although we have rejected God in the past, we can become friends with God... even more than that, we can become children of God. (Eph1, 1 John 5)

The main criticism of Woods made by Williams' sketch was that many doubt the sincerity of his apology: 'He sounded as though he had zoned out a bit, as if he was reading out the rules of a sport.' And God doesn't want a sham-apology from us. God wants real faith and real repentance, and He Himself gives us His Spirit so that, supernaturally, we are given the ability to believe and to please God by living radically different lives. This is why living as a Christian is not like life in black-and-white. It's not a boring, textbook life. It's full blown technicolour! It's life when you finally see things as they truly are. You not only see the truth, but you live it as well. You are given power to live it through God's Spirit, working in you. (2 Peter 1:3)

Living life by your own rules isn't real life. You're playing a game, and a dangerous one at that.
Living life with God at the centre is where you find true joy and fulfilment (John 10:10).

What is the connection between David and Jesus?

I've been posting recently about the lessons we can learn from David's life- through the narrative in 1 & 2 Samuel and his prayers and songs in Psalms. We have seen how David went through many trials, and his prayers can be a great help to us when we are going through tough times too.

But having just read Graeme Goldsworthy's 'Gospel and Kingdom', I've been reminded of the importance of David's connection with Jesus, and the dangers of misapplying David's experiences to our own lives. For example, Goldsworthy writes that to apply David to ourselves in the story of David vs Goliath is probably not that helpful, because in that incident, David was acting as God's anointed one to save His people. I still think David is an example of faith to us, as I wrote in my blog-post, but I think Goldsworthy's point is very important. We can identify a lot more with the stunned and ecstatic people of Israel than with the giant-slayer! After all, the gospel is all about what God has done FOR us in Jesus Christ:
- Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience for us
- Jesus died taking our punishment for us

Jesus was pre-figured in David, because David was a king after God's heart. David was not a perfect king. But Jesus is! David points us towards Jesus as the ultimate King, the ultimate One anointed by God to save His people. David, in 2 Samuel 5-6, leads Israel to victory (as their king), and defeats the Philistines through God's power. David saves the people from the Philistines. Jesus, however, saves God's people from their sins -past, present and future. It's a whole different scale!

Later in 2 Samuel we will see God's promise to David that his descendant will reign for ever- a prophecy that sees fulfilment in Jesus. Seeing how Jesus is the culmination of all God's promises is a fantastic spur to worship Him more whole-heartedly, I've found this week.

100 things to do before you die... the search for fulfilment

Dave Freeman, the 47 year old author of '100 Things to do before you Die', died this week from hitting his head at his home in California. John Harlow & Roger Waite wrote an article in 'The Sunday Times' entitled 'Life as a List', discussing why the concept of 100 Things became so popular. Freeman opens his book saying:

'Life is a short journey. How can you make sure you fill it with the most fun and that you visit all the coolest places on Earth before you pack your bags for the very last time?'

That is very much an attitude treasured in modern culture. We want to live life to the full while we can.

Well the Bible talks about living life to the full too- but in a different way. The Bible tells us that life is not just the 80 or so years you have on earth. Every human being has an eternal soul, and the life you have after death is actually a lot more important than the life on earth, because it is eternal.

Jesus said,
'I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.' John 10:10-11

In dying on the cross, Jesus was laying down His life in order that human beings could enjoy life to the full. You see, all of us are born with an invisible ball and chain around our feet. We go through life pretty unaware of it, but when we die, it's because the ball and chain finally caught up with us.

The ball and chain is sin. We are weighed down by our guilt for turning our backs on God, and the only way to live life to the full is to have the ball and chain removed.

On the cross, Jesus took the punishment for our guilty rebellion. He has the key to unlock your chain... but you have to ask Him. You have to acknowledge that the ball and chain exist. You need to realise how much you need Jesus.

Once you come to Jesus and ask for forgiveness, you experience true freedom. The ball and chain are taken off and flung away, and you are free to live life to the full now, and in eternity. The Bible talks about heaven, not as a fluffy white-clouded place, but about a real home for God's people where we can be with God forever with no suffering or pain (see Revelation 21). It puts our earthly life into perspective.

You see, the paradox of Freeman's 100 Things philosophy is that you can't ever get real fulfilment from doing really amazing things here on earth. Simon Reeve is quoted in this article as saying:

'because we all have such limited free time we rely on planes to whisk us to a place where we've been told we can have an extraordinary experience. Usually that just involves standing alongside a thousand other tourists.'

My family recently went to Lake Garda in Italy and this is certainly what they said! (Although of course it is very beautiful there.)

Even Freeman himself admitted that spending all your time hunting for Eden can ruin paradise for you.

The message of the Bible is that you can't find fulfilment anywhere else except in God. He offers us everything we need- Jesus explained this once by using a metaphor of water:

'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

We were created to have a relationship with God. Only when that relationship is restored through our forgiveness in Jesus, can we truly be made whole. That is where true fulfilment lies.

How can I find spiritual fulfilment? (Eph 1)

I found this slightly strange picture on Flickr, entitled 'Yoga for Geeks @ Penguin Day- Seattle'. Having recently returned from a visit to this city, where I was very blessed to meet a great bunch of Christians at Maple Leaf Evangelical Church, and at John Brewer's Mars Hill community group, I found this picture very revealing. The Christians I met (and my atheist friend, who I was staying with) all informed me that Seattle is famous for being very liberal- politically and religiously. Whilst there are (as I happily discovered) some great truth-teaching churches in this city, there is much opposition to Christianity. Yet this Yoga picture perfectly illustrates the fact that people are still searching for spiritual fulfilment. They may have rejected Christianity, but, unlike Dawkins, they have not rejected the concept of spirituality. The modern popularity of yoga and Buddhism in the West reflects our desire for the spiritual on our own terms. We are prepared to give up an hour of our week for a yoga class, to make us feel better about ourselves, but no extremist religion here please!

The Bible speaks in such a fresh and relevant way into our spiritually searching culture. This chapter in Ephesians basically says that there is one way to be spiritually fulfilled: in Jesus Christ.

Paul declares that God has blessed us with 'every spiritual blessing in Christ' (3). EVERY spiritual blessing- not just one or two. As Christians we are complete in Jesus. As non-Christians we can never be spiritually complete.

It is important to note that in this passage, true spirituality is not about meditating for long hours, or cranking up a list of good charity works, or praying facedown for a certain amount of time. If God has blessed us with 'every spiritual blessing in Christ', then there is no higher realm of spiritual experience to attain, but to know Him. There is no hierarchy of holiness- we are all the same to God in Christ, for we all have HIS status of being 'holy and blameless' (4). Every Christian was 'predestined to be adopted' as a child of God 'through Jesus Christ' (5)- and we are blessed with an equal status before God because of Jesus' perfection. Every Christian's sins are COMPLETELY forgiven and redeemed in Jesus (7). This is an amazing privilege, but it is one which Christians have thankfully received, and it is available to those who are not yet Christians too.

So there is one level of spiritual fulfilment: knowing Jesus. But within this, there are definitely different degrees of 'oneness' with Him. My husband and I have recently been reading 'Every Man's Marriage' by Stephen Arterburn & Fred Stoeker. The book suggests that 'oneness' is the goal of marriage, and it happens on two levels. On the one hand, at your wedding, you are declared one with your spouse. But on the other hand, real marital unity takes a lot of time and effort over the years you have together.

When you come to believe in Jesus and give your heart to Him, deciding to treasure Him above all other things in this universe, you are 'united with Christ' (Phil 2:1). But over the course of your life, this involves growing in faith and love of Him. Paul prays this for the Ephesians- that they may 'know Him better' (17)- for knowing Him better means loving Him more. We need to pray that God will open our minds and hearts to know 'the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe' (18-19).

This is given to us through Jesus! He is the means, or the channel, through whom God has blessed us. And what blessings! A heavenly inheritance- a mansion in eternity, living in God's perfect community.

And our love for Jesus grows as we see Him exalted, 'far above all rule and authority' (21) with everything 'under His feet' (22). The mighty Jesus cares for US. Knowing that brings spiritual fulfilment.