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A La Carte (12/4)
- 12/04/09
- 9
Hunting Tiger Woods
CJ Mahaney offers some wise words concerning the Tiger Woods situation. “Let us make sure we do not join the hunt. A Christian’s response to this story should be distinctly different. We should not be entertained by the news. We should not have a morbid interest in all the details. We should be saddened and sobered. We should pray for this man and even more for his wife.”
Cheaters and Tigers and Idiots
This article takes a much harsher line with Tiger. I certainly don’t endorse all the author says here, but I do think he gets right to the heart of things when he says, “At the end of the day, while 7th commandment violations may be their ‘sin du jour,’ I believe that the 1st commandment is where the whole deal gets started. ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ These pathological narcissists break this commandment from the moment they get out of bed, because they have no functional understanding whatsoever that they are not God themselves.” This sin, like so many others, is first a violation of the 1st commandment.
The Vampire Attraction
Mary Kassian points to some interesting research on the Twilight phenomenon. “New research from the University of Missouri shows that the reason teenage girls have fallen hard for the Twilight book and film series has to do with its portrayal of a traditional, abstinent romantic relationship.”
Mormon Vampires
And while we’re on the subject of Twilight this article from Touchstone draws interesting connections between the stories and the Mormon faith of their author.
More on the Manhattan Declaration
Nicholas T. Batzig offers a useful perspective on the Manhattan Declaration. “Should we voice our opinions publically on these issues? Absolutely! Can we join with other Christians and make joint declarations? Certainly! We can also join with non-believers and make statements concerning life, marriage and religious freedom. Is it the work of the church to make such declarations? Perhaps. But let us beware of the dangers of joining forces with representatives of ecclesiastical bodies that have a different Gospel than the Gospel we have received.”
CJ Mahaney offers some wise words concerning the Tiger Woods situation. “Let us make sure we do not join the hunt. A Christian’s response to this story should be distinctly different. We should not be entertained by the news. We should not have a morbid interest in all the details. We should be saddened and sobered. We should pray for this man and even more for his wife.”
Cheaters and Tigers and Idiots
This article takes a much harsher line with Tiger. I certainly don’t endorse all the author says here, but I do think he gets right to the heart of things when he says, “At the end of the day, while 7th commandment violations may be their ‘sin du jour,’ I believe that the 1st commandment is where the whole deal gets started. ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ These pathological narcissists break this commandment from the moment they get out of bed, because they have no functional understanding whatsoever that they are not God themselves.” This sin, like so many others, is first a violation of the 1st commandment.
The Vampire Attraction
Mary Kassian points to some interesting research on the Twilight phenomenon. “New research from the University of Missouri shows that the reason teenage girls have fallen hard for the Twilight book and film series has to do with its portrayal of a traditional, abstinent romantic relationship.”
Mormon Vampires
And while we’re on the subject of Twilight this article from Touchstone draws interesting connections between the stories and the Mormon faith of their author.
More on the Manhattan Declaration
Nicholas T. Batzig offers a useful perspective on the Manhattan Declaration. “Should we voice our opinions publically on these issues? Absolutely! Can we join with other Christians and make joint declarations? Certainly! We can also join with non-believers and make statements concerning life, marriage and religious freedom. Is it the work of the church to make such declarations? Perhaps. But let us beware of the dangers of joining forces with representatives of ecclesiastical bodies that have a different Gospel than the Gospel we have received.”
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (9)
Reposting the Hunting Tiger Woods link to FB…
When I consider the Tiger Woods brouhaha, I am disappointed by the ungratefulness of many of my Christian brothers and sisters. Many of us have been covered by prayer our whole lives, either our own prayers or someone else’s.
But the average person has never had anyone pray for them. Ever. They have no prayer covering. So why should we be surprised when they fail and fall prey to this broken world?
Rock-throwing Christians reflect badly on our Lord. There is so little reflection in their lives about the blessings they have and too much reflection on the sins of others.
Here’s an experiment that we Christians should do: How about we avoid making comments about the lifestyles of people we’ve never once prayed for? Conversely, why don’t we spend more time praying for people who have never once had anyone pray for them?
I would suspect we Christians would have much more impact on Tiger Woods and his family if we were to write him privately and let him know that we will lift his family and him in prayer every day for the next year than if we comment in a public forum about what a godless adulterer he is.
What is more sad to me than Tiger Wood’s issues is that the majority of Christians so easily think of heaping condemnation on Woods rather than doing what the Lord would ask by having us be there for him in this most unfortunate time. Our failure to extend love and grace to sinners is why the world does not care to hear our message. When will we learn this and repent?
If society wanted to excuse the sin and brush it under the rug, the conservative bloggers would be talking about how our culture treats sexual sin so flippantly and that as Christians we need to be willing to call sin what it is.
I’m not saying Mahaney is wrong — indeed he’s right, but in a very real way, Christians just can’t “win” when this topic comes up in the public sphere.
I read the Touchstone article yesterday when Russell Moore linked to it and then again to my wife last night, it is very sobering.
While I am often skeptical about symbolism read into books like this, Granger does an excellent job giving clear examples of his observations — unlike many who would seek to discredit the books for their “bad example of Edward chastely watching over Bella every night” instead of when they should be looking for the more serious problems. Like the fact that she re-enforces post-modern mantras:
“Diversity is the core good, prejudice is the greatest evil, and the meta-narrative or core cultural myth on which you’ve been raised is what keeps you from seeing things as they are (“Don’t believe what you think!”). Free, informed Choice is the only means to escape these myths and “self-actualize.”“
His observations get to the heart of identifying the kinds of thinking that can undermine our Christian worldviews — I think that this kind of intellectual analysis is crucial whatever the topic. We can be so easily swayed to an earthly mindset if we are not paying attention.
I agree with you that Bahnsen found the bottom line when he suggests that the breaking of the First Commandment was Tiger’s first step toward breaking the Seventh.
That said, in my quick reading of his article, there seemed to be an elevated level of self-righteousness and pride in his commitment to marital faithfulness (along with other moral standards) while cruelly disparaging those others who have become ensnared in those sins. Satan loves a good challenge. Self-righteousness and pride are a couple of his most effective tools.
Mike- I feel like the right “Christian” response may be no response at all.
I haven’t really followed the Woods story. I gather he probably cheated on his wife. Okay. Lots of people cheat on their wives; Woods isn’t special in this regard. Is it wrong? Yes. Is it sad? Yes. But I don’t personally know Woods or his wife, so I don’t feel particularly upset by this or feel a need to comment publicly on it.
I feel like “not getting sucked into the media circus” is probably the right way to go. Not every piece of scandalous news du jour requires a concerned “Christian response”.
DLE,
VERY well stated, I agree
T
DLE said, “What is more sad to me than Tiger Wood’s issues is that the majority of Christians so easily think of heaping condemnation on Woods rather than doing what the Lord would ask by having us be there for him in this most unfortunate time. Our failure to extend love and grace to sinners is why the world does not care to hear our message. When will we learn this and repent?”
So are you planning to pray for and write to “the majority of Christians” you are “heaping condemnation” on? Better get busy!
I oppose the Twilight series for a lot of reasons, but I think the Touchstone article, while interesting, probably has little more basis than those in the fundamental world I grew up in who read ungodly symbolism into the Wizard of Oz and every other book they don’t like. Is it really probably that the Twilight author even knows this much of Mormon history? How many Christians even know that much church history to embed it in a novel? And those of us who do…tend to be too geeky to write (or read!) romantic teen thrillers.
Any author’s worldview will come out in their books. But since the Twilight author doesn’t claim her book has all this Mormon symbolism, I’m inclined to say we should respect her intent and not read that into it. And most of us, if we wanted to write a book that mirrored our religious history, would be open about that. Not hope that little girls who know nothing about Mormonism will somehow “get” it from reading about a meadow in these novels, or somehow figure out who represents Adam and Eve in Mormon theology.
There’s PLENTY wrong with Twilight without adding this to it.