Lie of the Tiger

^{Despite the title, this isn't one of those trendy 'bash Tiger Woods' articles. That's too easy, and frankly, who among us is deserving to throw stones? What I want to focus on is one very transparent paragraph Tiger shared in his worldwide apology last Friday morning. I don't care whether you think his apology was sincere or not. What he shared was absolutely the right thing to say if one were to be completely honest with themselves, much less the entire world.}

"I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in. I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply. I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead, I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them."

Tiger Woods, perhaps the most famous, most wealthy and most recognized human alive is powerless to temptation. As I addressed in my post last week about the alluring nature of temptation, it always comes in a harmless and attractive package. But once you open the door to it, there are disastrous consequences. Once you give in to it, you are completely at its mercy. How much money do you think Tiger Woods has paid others to keep his secrets? It's all over the news and the subject of books the depth of deception former Presidential candidate John Edwards went to keep his ugly behavior from a public who was seriously considering making him the most powerful man in the world. The number of people involved to keep the lies away from the media and the public is astounding. The lives these men controlled, compromised and stressed to the breaking point is unconscionable.

Tiger Woods' admission that he felt the rules didn't apply to him was his Kryptonite. He has been forced to face that no matter how much money he has, no matter how big his house, no matter how famous, no matter how beautiful his wife, no matter how many cars he has...there is no such thing as enough. His addiction isn't sex. He has a lust for more.

Fame, power and money have ruined countless lives since the dawn of man. If we allow ourselves to be consumed with the pursuit of more, we will be ruined.

¹What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? ²You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. ³When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 

~James 4:1-3

The foolproof cure for this disease is humility. God can and does use the rich and famous to further His kingdom. God delights in blessing His people with the fine things of this world. But from them, God will require much in return.

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

~Luke 12:48b

Our generation is littered with people who have wealth and fame beyond their ability and maturity to handle them responsibly. 

Ambition is a wonderful quality. We should always be striving to improve upon who we are. It's important to make good decisions and to endeavor to reach new heights in our lives. But in our pursuit, we must prove to be good stewards along the way.

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

~Luke 16:10

If you have professional and financial dreams to prosper materially, that's great. But keep these very important scriptures and real-life lessons close to your heart. Not all of us are mature and ready enough to handle all the temptations that come with wealth and status. The lessons must be learned, and we must prove ourselves as trustworthy even when we have very little. If you have proven to be dishonest and susceptible to the temptations, humble and submit yourself to God if you want to have any hope of getting where you want to go, and expect to stay there.