Comments on: Pastors, Tiger Woods and “Privacy”

By: Aaron Reddin

Aaron Reddin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:07:25 +0000

If you want privacy, play golf as a hobby. If you want privacy, go preach the gospel in prisons or shelters. If you don’t want your every move seen and scrutinized, then you have to decide which you want more. Fame and money, or fun and privacy.

Should they have a “right” to some privacy? Sure. But everyone knows that if you are well known, so is your business.

If your business is dirty, golf a preach as a hobby.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:29:58 +0000

Jason Pederson made a great comment on the radio today (103.7, the Zone) about Tiger’s defintion of character versus a proper defintion. Tiger defined character as not what you do, but what you overcome. Jason wisely pointed out that this simply requires some to mess up really bad, dig a deep hole and the only way out is up and that would qualify as character. Instead how about not dig the hole in the first place.

Also, I’m really torn on the whole delivery aspect. Watching him, I just don’t believe him. I want to. I want to see someone truely change and get better. However, there is just something about his very stiff and rehearsed delivery that does not allow me to really buy in. I know not everyone is a great speaker, but measure this speech against all his other press conferences and speeches when he opens some foundation or teaching clinic. He has some personality and charisma, it just didn’t happen today (and I don’t know what to do with that).

By: Naomi Bratton

Naomi Bratton — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:15:48 +0000

Tiger’s wife and children don’t deserve all the trash talking, but call me hardhearted because I think he deserves it all and more. Maybe it would be easier to swallow if he wasn’t cashing in to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, mostly predicated on him being such a “good guy” in the sports world. I believe that he only went to sex rehab as a smoke screen, because now we have to talk about him having a “disease” instead of just being a jerk who got caught. All that aside, the only one’s forgiveness he needs is God’s.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:43:57 +0000

Good word about the missing element of humility. We are a forgiving culture when humility is shown. True about pastors and public eye. Good post.

By: cloften

cloften — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:42:55 +0000

The conversation continues here: http://sermonsinstones.blogspot.com/2010/02/duggars-and-tiger.html

Please read some very insightful thoughts from my friend Megan.

By: Megan

Megan — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:58:24 +0000

So many want to be rich and famous, but few realize just how hard it is to live life–mistakes and all–under the microscope of fame. I do not excuse Tiger’s actions by any means, but I do feel sorry that he has to live out his worst days for all the world to see. I can’t imagine having to give a public account for any of my private failures.

It’s easy to condemn him, shaking our heads, and separate ourselves from “that” kind of sin when we think of him as an untouchable famous person, but when you strip all of that away, he’s just like you and me–in need of the same gift of grace and salvation as all of us.

By: Larry

Larry — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:47:15 +0000

I think your last statement is most important – “Be in your private life who you say you are in your public life.” In modern times the concern for privacy has become synonymous with masking sinful or unacceptable behavior. Every time people do something that they don’t want others to find out about, they start screaming about privacy rights. It is a smoke screen.

The truth is that character matters – it always has and always will. Somehow, we think that if a person is a great politician, lawyer, doctor, musician, whatever – then that somehow gives them a pass on the rest of their life. Character matters – in sports “heroes” (which is why I never encouraged my kids to idolize them) and especially in full-time ministry. My wife and I both do genealogy, and you would be surprised at not only how much “stuff’ you find out about ancestors, but how vehemently many of the living people don’t want you to find it out. The fact that someone had five divorces or committed a murder or whatever is just that – a fact. The best solution to people not finding out is to not do it in the first place.

My grandmother used to say that “if your not up to no good then you don’t have to worry about what people find out.”

On a side note, I do think that stories like Tiger Woods shouldn’t be incessantly played out in the media. It basically turns the media, and those of us who watch all of that stuff, into gossip mongers…and we know what the Bible says about gossip.

Good post btw…..