I am a sports fan and have been for as long as I can remember. I don't know many sports figures personally so it is easy to talk about them. I talk about how bad Brady Quinn was the last game or how LeBron needs to quit dribbling so much. These are things I would never say to their faces or if I did it would be prefaced with a mountain of praise and offered as a humble suggestion. Tiger Woods has been in the news lately. No one really knows what happened and yet it seems that many of us enjoy talking about the possibilities. One of my best friends is Tom Randall. He is the chaplain of the PGA Champions tour. I was talking to him last night and I said with no small measure of amusement and excitement, "Hey Tom, you are in the know. What happened with Tiger? Wow, that is really crazy"? I expected him to join in like everyone else I had talked to and begin to smile and laugh at the craziness of driving over a fire hydrant at 2am and having your wife break out a window with a golf club. Instead Tom said, "Joe, I can't really talk about it". I realized that meant he was already involved but he was involved as a minister. He was trying to help a couple who were experiencing a terribly difficult time in their lives. Conviction hits me like a hammer most of the time. I guess it needs to. I have worked with couples who are really hurting, who have had all kinds of things go wrong. I would be so upset if I heard other staff members talking about their lives like I was talking about Tiger's. Tom slapped me back into thinking like a minister and he did it without even knowing it. Actually he slapped me back to thinking like a Christian. Now, consider yourself slapped.
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11 comments:
Slapped, slapped, and slapped again.
thank you
I have always been a fan of Tiger Woods and was shocked to hear his name connected to such an incident. Thank you for reminding me to pray for him and his family during this difficult time.
God uses saved and unsaved alike to lovingly slap. We need to remember to ask Jesus to be present in everything we say, do or think and be ready to accept the rebuke or discipline may it be silent or audible when the world enters in. Truth reigns in the heart of a believer.
We are at war with the enemy lest we forget.
Tom made the decision not to elaborate, and you have to respect that.
Suppose, on the other hand, he told you that he had the chance to sit down with Tiger and his wife, offered some advice on forgiveness, and prayed with them for their marriage. You would have been thrilled you asked!!
Connections don't happen when we're overly convicted. We develop a fear of stumbling over our very words. It doesn't seem wrong that you asked about this Joe. There may be a wonderful story in the works here about a great golfer, and a great pastor. God has proven time and again that he'll use Tom Randall to further His kingdom. Wouldn't it be wonderful to hear how that plays out in Tiger's life?
You recall what Paul related to the Philippians: "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellance, if there is anythng worthy of praise, think about these things." (Phil. 4:8)
So what I would remind you is that you (anyone) must ask yourself if what you are thinking about-which later then translates into "words at the water cooler" fits into one of those 6 categories. If not, your thinking is wrong in the first place. A friend of mine once told me that before she speaks, she asks herself 3 questions. Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? Sort of sums up Phil. 4:8. Scripture applied is the best antidote!
As I have watch Tiger play through the years I have often thought that he needs Jesus in his life.(as we all do). Maybe this will be the turning point for him to look away from himself and into the face of our Lord.
Thanks for sharing that, it's so very true and I felt similar as to you probably felt just by reading your experience. We so often justify "talking" about people because we say, "it's the truth", "we're not talking about them to hurt them". But, if the conversation is not helpful, or even hurtful to someone, that doesn't justify talking about people's personal issues just to "talk about it", regardless of the truth or facts.
Any common man would be devestated if the world gained knowledge of our most terrible transgressions...and we would be even more devestated to see other Christians talking about us in a negative manner. Whether or not they can hear us. :)
Joe, that is a sobering reminder. I also have been caught up in the whole Tiger thing and decided I needed to think of it as a hurt family in need of prayer, not gossip. Each of us is only a moment away from such poor decisions (1 Cor 10:12) and maybe even more so if we were in the limelight as much as Tiger.
Dan Q
It's amazing, isn't it, how far Tiger has fallen since the fire hydrant incident? Who would have imagined just 3 weeks ago where we are today? But Tiger is not known to us personally. Think, too, about the golfer who introduced Tiger to his wife. How would we react if we found out that someone we thought we knew really well, and even recommended to others, was not the person we thought we knew? Maybe, Joe, you will be called upon to face that painful reality. Maybe we will as well.
I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
And you et an account on Twitter?
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