Jesus Loves Tiger Woods

I prayed for Tiger Woods today. From now on he will be referred to by the media as "disgraced golfer" Tiger Woods... a heavy burden to carry at such a young age, hence my prayer on his behalf. Of course, he deserves the title because one so blessed with talent and advantage should not behave soungraciously towards the family he so publicly claimed he loved.

Now the tawdry attempts to resurrect his reputation will begin. Marketing wizards and image doctors will try to create a rehabilitation scenario that will cast him as a flawed hero, but a hero nonetheless because heroes move product and in the end this is what counts.

Even if this succeeds (and in our society it usually does – i.e. Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, etc.) there will remain a wounded soul inhabiting the "new" Tiger Woods, whatever form his handlers eventually create. A wounded soul that needs forgiveness, not a make-over!

We often think that the death of Christ on the cross only reaches out to the poor and beaten and broken ones of this world but that offer of forgiveness and restoration is also good for privileged athletes who have fallen from grace as well.

Like I said, I prayed for Tiger today and I asked God to send someone to him with the "Good News" of forgiveness and regeneration in Jesus-Christ. If God forgives him he will then be able to forgive himself and this renewal will give him the kind of peace that no amount of "spin" will produce.