Couldn't Tiger Use Some Grace?

Something that has become more and more real to me is the problem with the whole "performance treadmill" theory of religion. Whenever present and to whatever degree it is present you find that you can never really figure out what the rules are. Some people will tell you things like, “Just obey the Bible and God will bless you and heaven is yours." To that, I often want to say, "Really? Have you read the Bible? I mean, really read it not just picking and choosing those passages that fit your agenda!” Do you really want us to go back to stoning people for working on Saturday, or condemning women who touch you while on their period; or stoning kids to death for disobeying their parents; or stoning people for adultery? Or making sure that no one wears any clothes mixed with two or more fabrics?

There is not a person alive who obeys the “rules” of the Bible in their entirety in thought and deed, but the trick of self righteousness is that if I can give the appearance that I may be a sinner, but at least I am not as bad a sinner as “them” over there, then I get a pass, and I get to condemn “them” in the process. But Jesus came to reverse this order, by bringing hope especially to the most despised and rejected among us. He came to bring into existence a new system or kingdom that says everyone is welcome through Him to share at the table. And with that he introduced a new paradigm where love for others, regardless of who they are is the primary manifestation of being part of that kingdom.

Sadly, organized religion often fails to present that message. All too often organized religion, at its very core leads to condemnation, because it is always putting people on a performance scale and making rash judgments about them. The only solution to it is to accept a message of grace that refuses to believe the lie that "I am better than you, because I believe X and you believe Y, or because I do X and avoid Y but you do not".

Take the predicament that the famous golfer Tiger Woods is going through right now. Before his sexual indiscretions were made public, he was not only hailed as one of the most celebrated if not best golfer ever, but was seen as a model citizen. But within weeks of his Thanksgiving Day accident, his approval rating plummeted. The media has had a field day analyzing the depths of his "naughtiness". Tiger's wife, Elin, needs healing and comfort. Tiger himself needs grace. As long as you are a top performer with an image that appears squeaky clean, we think that you "deserve" to get blessings. But then as soon as flaws are revealed, the condemnation begins because according to our thinking, that’s what is deserved. This is how the Law (from a Biblical perspective) works. I refuse to make rash judgments about Tiger, not because I approve of what he did, but because I know how I would want to be treated if my own dirty laundry was made public like that. We all have our own individual "thorns" or things that we struggle with.

Grace is often hard to grasp because of some of the conflicting "Christian" messages we are given. For example consider how non-believers are told to come to Jesus "just as they are" but then when they say "yes" to Jesus they are given a list of rules that must be maintained to earn God's blessings. Think about how it is often said that God has paid the full price for our sins on the cross but then we tell believers that if they don't live up to a standard they could be hell bound.

We can't have it both ways. Either we stick to the law 100%, (a literal impossibility), or we humbly accept the message of God's grace, and pass this kind of love on to each other.

Grace basically says that there is nothing that we can do to make God love us anymore, and nothing that we can do to make God love us any less. If we truly accepted this message we would stop putting ourselves on performance scales and grading each other on a hierarchical scale with which we use to make rash and often improper judgments about each other.