Recently, Tiger Woods went before TV cameras and a roomful of journalists
and friends to apologize for his marital infidelity and all the damage it has wrought.
In the midst of his confession, he revealed what he considers to be a key
component to his rehabilitation: A return to his Buddhist roots.
I admit, as a Christian pastor, I would’ve loved to hear him announce that
he had committed his life to Jesus while in rehab, but I was nonetheless
thankful that Tiger seems to be confronting the spiritual dimensions of his
problems. He now takes responsibility for his actions and recognizes that true
restoration will require something greater than himself. And, based on his family
background, Buddhism was the natural choice.
The thing is, most Christians are as Buddhist as Tiger Woods wants to
be!
Can you guess what I mean?
Tiger Woods is facing the same challenge we all do: What do we do with our
desires?
Two basic answers: Feed Them or Deny Them.
Option #1 is fraught with promise and peril. When we feed our desires we can
say, “We are doing what comes natural.” That is, God gave me these desires and
it’s only right to follow their lead. The downside? Weight gain, broken hearts,
STDs, debt, and, oftentimes, a secret life.
Secrecy sets in because something inside us knows that just pursuing our desires
without limits is wrong. Tiger said as much.
Option #2, a denial of our desires, has one big downside: Suffering. We
suffer when we don’t indulge our desires. There is a discomfort that goes along
with not doing what you feel you have to do. Just try not to scratch your next
itch and see if you wouldn’t describe it as suffering. Denial of desire carries
with it ultimate satisfaction, but rarely do we get to experience it because we
don’t like the suffering required to get there.
Tiger’s solution to the dilemma is to become a better Buddhist. This ancient
philosophy teaches a great deal about dealing with desires.
Here’s a summary of “The Four Noble Truths” of Buddhism: Life leads to
suffering; suffering is caused by desires; suffering ends when desires end;
thus we should eliminate our desires.
I think that most Christians, in practice at least, are as Buddhist as Tiger
wants to be … unfortunately.
Unlike Buddhism, Christianity has a very different view of suffering and
desires. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Unearned suffering is redemptive.” Jesus
didn’t exempt himself from suffering and he invites us to take up our cross and
follow him (Matt. 16;24). Furthermore, desires are meant to be pursued to their
fullest extent. That is, all the way to God.
That’s why Jesus is revealed as bread and water … so that we might feast
on Him. That’s why the psalmist sang, “Fill me with joy in your presence, with
eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Ps. 16:11). Our soul is able to sing
because it is God “who satisfies our desires with good things” (Ps. 103:5).
Like Tiger Woods, we all must confront the root of our sins and strive for
healing and restoration. I just hope that we can recognize that genuine healing
must eventually get beyond the act of denying ourselves and focus on the
process of allowing ourselves to be filled with the good things of God.
C.S. Lewis was correct when he said that our problem is that we satisfy with
too little. Like little children making mud pies in the gutter when we are
being offered a vacation to build sandcastles on the beach.
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