Tiger Woods.

I thought I'd take some time and weigh in on the Tiger Woods deal that's going on in our media right now, since it obviously impacts every aspect of our lives from grocery shopping down to whether or not Santa is real (he is, trust me.)

Tiger has always seemed to me to be a stand up kind of guy. Maybe I'm dim, but I feel like he still is. The news that he crashed his car was surrounded by this sort of "what if" mentality, assuming everything from domestic abuse to aliens coming down and sucking out his brain. While those options sound cool, I don't think they're really based in any sort of reality.

He mentioned that he's screwed up here on his website. This is likely in reference to the news that broke earlier today that he has had an affair with several women in the course of his marriage. That's a mega bummer kids. I was remarking to Ed that it feels like the only thing one has to do to be better than a celebrity these days is not have sex with someone other than your spouse. Please understand, that this blog post is not in defense of those actions.

What it is in defense of is Tiger's handling of events, or at least how I perceive them from his note. It seems like in spite of the struggles, Tiger and his wife are talking it through. He seems to understand that he's done something wrong, and that they need to work together toward forgiveness. If that's truly what's happening (and maybe that's a bigger if than I'm giving it credit for) then he's doing the right thing.

I'd like to know where we fit in. Does it really concern us at all? My favorite part of all of this was last night, watching the news, and hearing the "shocking" "breaking news" that Tiger was assigned a fine for his accident. Apparently "shocking" and "breaking news" are words that mean $165 fine. $165? I've done worse than that when I was 16. So why is that news? (Or maybe more importantly, how come I've never been on the news?)

My point is this: leave the guy alone. He's a sinner, to be sure. But so am I, and for that matter so are you. If you know Tiger personally and you feel like as a brother or sister in Christ you can challenge him and encourage him, then do so, but if you have never met him in your life, then let it go. Don't watch news stories about it. Don't comment on the story. Don't get huffed about it.

And whatever you do, don't read someone else's blog about it.

Godspeed,

Jason

Deep justice is hard to find.

I read an article recently that kind of disturbed me.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the death penalty. Obviously there has to be some sort of punishment for crimes that are committed in our society. But even if I set my moral objections aside (taking a life in exchange for a life will eventually just kill us all...), doesn't it seem like this is a bit of a cop out? If we would leave a person who committed that crime in jail for the rest of his life, he'd have his whole life to reflect upon what he's done, what impact he had on the families of the victims. When he dies, that's it, it's up to him and God.

I could go on for quite a while about how vengeance is supposed to be reserved for God. I could write about how I've been reading in Eziekel how much God despises violence (and I would argue that even killing a person with an injection is violent). But really, one quote from this story stuck out to me:

"Well, myself, I wish Malvo was right there beside Muhammad," said Moore, whose sister, FBI analyst Linda Franklin, was gunned down in Virginia. "They both committed the same crimes. No, I don't feel any closure. I mean, it's ... it ... nothing changes."

Now granted, I have never had my sister shot by a team of snipers. I've never felt the sting of pain that this man is going through, and I truly feel for him and his loss. I understand there's a lot more pain in this situation than I can possibly understand (yeah, read that again). But I wonder if having the young man in the chair next to Muhammad would have brought this guy the closure he was seeking? Would the extra death really have brought any comfort at all? Or would that pain and longing still be there?

I think that from time to time, we search for the quick answer. There is absolutely no question that Moore was wronged here. Deeply, deeply wronged. There is a complete lack of justice in his situation, and I would never argue any other way. But I don't think killing anyone else brings justice to the situation. I don't think there is a quick justice for the families of the sniper attacks. Or fort hood. Or 9/11.

Deep justice is hard to find.

But the reality of the situation is that God is the source of justice. Nothing goes before his eyes unaccounted for. And while we might wonder how he could let such things happen, how these events could possibly go unchallenged, we have to rest securely in his grace and mercy and justice, rather than try to make our own.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Comment below.

Godspeed,

Jason

HIStory

 

Hello friends,

I watched the Inauguration with the staff at Westminster today. It was interesting. We have such a wide variety of political views on our staff, but everyone seemed to understand the weight of what we were watching. I think I'm still digesting everything that's happened today, how far we've come as a country, how much we've accomplished, how much more we have left to get done. I totally dug the line "We will turn our tanks into tractors." Well stated.

 

I had an interesting day at work today. We've been working for a long time to get an updated sound and projection system at the Bridge. I had a meeting about it today, and things are progressing. I just frequently get frustrated at how limited our sound system is, and how long it takes to get stuff done in a church of our size. But, I need to keep telling myself to count the blessings (for they are many) and keep my chin up.  

  

In the meantime, I have updated our worship software, and I'm going to be fixing it up a bit so that it will be ready and rarein to go for Sunday. 

The best news of my life: The J and Ed Variety Show is already shot and ready to go for this week! Excellent!

 

Watching the game. It's 1-1 after the first, but dang we looked good in the first period. I'm just exceptionally excited to relax tonight at watch the game.

More tomorrow!

Godspeed,

Jason

MLK

Today is Martin Luther King day. In all honesty, I've never really given a whole lot of thought to this day and what it means, but today it seems all the more important, given the events that will take place tomorrow.
I have known for a couple of days that I wanted to do a blog post about MLK. I just don't know which direction to take it. There are so many aspects of this man which are worth noting in our modern context, so many lessons that can be learned. I feel like my little blog is incapable of handling the vast weight of such an enormous historical figure. I feel like my fingers on the keyboard are incapable of getting the record straight.
I think we have to start with the idea that Dr. King saw an injustice, and was compelled to speak out against it in the name of Christ. He was after all a Christian pastor (which by the way, if more people spoke the way he did, our churches would be radically different). For him, this wasn't about power or recognition, doing the right thing so other people would notice. I even saw on a documentary today that he was rather embarrased by the fact that he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He didn't want anyone to mention it at his funeral.

Secondly, few people in the world have taken Jesus' message of non-violence to heart quite the way King did. As I watched film footage today of the marches in Alabama, I was struck by how little the protesters were actually doing. They were simply walking, and to the police officers of the day that was enough to beat some of them severly. But King and his followers never used violence back. They would not bring down their cause to that level. Instead, they just protested the wrong that was being done to them. As I watched today, I couldn't help but think of Jesus in a garden, repairing a Roman soldier's ear. He could have fought back, but that just wasn't going to glorify him or his cause very much.

I know some people would point out that King wasn't perfect. I know that he had affairs, and by no means is that acceptable. But I think when you start pointing out other people's imperfections in the face of their great Kingdom accomplishments, you're missing the point. If people who have sinned cannot advance the Kingdom into this world, what hope do we have?

This is not about hero worship. This is not about idolizing a man. For me, this is about looking at someone who was intent on living the life Christ called him to in every aspect of his world. He was right, and he knew he was right all along, but he never seemed arrogant about it. He never insisted on his own way. He simply lived a life according to what Christ was speaking into his heart. Nearly 40 years after his death, as the first African-American President is going to be sworn in tomorrow, I wonder what he would think about all this? I wonder what he would say about very tiny steps being taken in the name of love?