After Tiger Woods had been caught violating his marital covenant and disappointing many who had grown to respect him and admire his extra-ordinary abilities, the media was finally given access to him. One very sharp journalist asked him this question, “How could you have lied to so many for so long?” And that from a journalist? Anyway, Tiger was quite candid. “Because,” he responded, “I lied to myself.” There are times, indeed, when truth is no longer relative!
In a question and answer session with Christian Apologist Ravi Zacharias, Jeff Foxworthy asked him, “What are some of the biggest lies that our culture tells us today?” Zacharias, to answer the question, brought up this interview with Tiger Woods and said this, “I would have loved to have had a follow-up question. ‘What did you lie to yourself about? Did you lie to yourself that you would never get caught, or did you lie to yourself that in doing what you did, that’s where lay your happiness?’
“That, you see, is the deadly lie! The real lie in the system is that you think you can violate the boundaries that God has set and think that in that violation you will find your fulfillment and find your happiness. It simply is not true.” (From YouTube, Ravi Zacharias and Dennis Prager The Death of Truth, the Decline of Culture Q&A). To pursue this thought further, I would like to
recommend Ravi Zacharias, Deliver us from Evil: Restoring the Soul in a Disintegrating Culture, available through Amazon.
God made us as we are. Our drives, predispositions and interests come from God himself, built into us from the day of creation. Why would God, you must ask yourself, put such restrictions on our happiness? Why would he do such a thing?
God has given us these boundaries that we might live a balanced life. The boundaries are there, and thank God for them. Without the checks and balances that he has given, we are all prone to self-destruct. We live in a day when the mantra of so many is, “We live in a free country; I deserve to have my rights!” However aberrant their interests, they call for justification and the validation of their behavior. Sooner rather than later, I fear they are going to discover the answer to some of the questions we have raised. Sin is a terrible taskmaster; you play with fire, Mr., and you will soon be burned!
I am grateful for my Christian heritage. Truth, for me, is not relative. But even if it were, if after death I discover that my faith is bogus, that there is no God, no heaven or hell, no day of reckoning for the Hitler’s and Stalin’s of history, I am still pleased to have discovered what I call “the way of truth.” Had I not been born into a Christian home, I would have indulged myself on any number of things that are clearly self-destructive. Granted there are some experiences I will never have, some “highs” I will never experience. I am neither bragging nor complaining; I am just profoundly grateful.
So, what does one do when caught, as was Tiger Woods? What do we do when we discover that truth is no longer relative? Sometimes, indeed, we must accept truth for what it is. How does one recover? Jesus said, “Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” That invitation stands; it was true then, and it is still true today. God’s solution to our deepest disappointments and our most intractable problems has been given; his name is Jesus Christ.
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