If you google “Tiger Woods” right now, you will get around 40 million returns and over 7,000 news articles.

I’m pretty sure this isn’t the kind of popularity he desires right now.  The mainstream media is (as expected) executing the typical “pile on” maneuver and reporting on anything they can get their hands on, and if you’re like me, you’re ready for this story to run its course.

Of course, it won’t anytime soon.  We’ll be treated to headliner stories and sordid details that the generally morbid population feeds on like sharks in frenzy. We’ll get theories, speculations, and allegations that may go on for weeks – even months.

Until, that is, somebody else in the limelight pulls a different bigger-than-life train wreck that turns into the next menu item for TMZ and all manner of gossip-loving folks who love to read about failures so they can feel better about themselves.

But it should be different for Christians. While it may be virtually impossible for us to escape the story, rather than judging or condemning, as Christians, we should focus on what God can teach us through Tiger’s transgressions.

So…what can we take from the saddening saga of the Woods family?

First, look up.  Our personal failures and spiritual breakdowns so often happen as a result of not keeping our focus on Jesus Christ.  Here’s the way the writer of Hebrews puts it:

Such a large crowd of witnesses is all around us! So we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially the sin that just won’t let go. And we must be determined to run the race that is ahead of us. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete (Hebrews 12:1-2).

I have no clue as to Tiger’s spiritual condition, nor is it my place to evaluate or judge since I don’t know him – I haven’t even met him.  But this story reminded me that if I take my eyes off of Jesus, I’m headed for a crash that involves a lot more than a fire hydrant and a tree.

Second, look around.  There are people everywhere who carry a load of loneliness, emptiness, and even depression because their deceptive worldview tells them that contentment and happiness can be found through something material.  Do we really need another story like this to be reminded that all the money, fame, success, and possessions in the universe still do not come close to providing a real and satisfying life?  God created life, so doesn’t it follow that life without a relationship with Him is pretty, well, lifeless?

There was a king named Solomon who lived thousands of years ago who had more bank and bling than anyone has or probably ever will.  He went on a party journey for quite some time to see if he could find contentment and happiness with things here on earth.  In fact, this is what he wrote:

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
       I refused my heart no pleasure (Ecclesiastes 2:10).

In the end, he found himself in a darker place than he ever imagined and he came to the conclusion that without God everything is “meaningless.”  Why?  Here was his reasoning:

He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

What Solomon is saying is that there is a “God-shaped hole” in each and every one of us and trying to fill a spiritual void with a thing or an experience is an absolute waste of time.

But what isn’t a waste of time is the pursuit of God.  Here’s the promise from Jesus Christ:

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends” (Revelation 3:20).

This “meal” He is referring to is a spiritual feast that no earthly possession or experience can rival.  If you’ve trusted Christ, you already know this, but again, please look around at all the people that are desperately looking to fill the eternity-sized empty space in their hearts.  What they want is what Tiger Woods wants and it is what you have found: Jesus.

Don’t keep this great discovery to yourself – knock it off the tee like you were playing for your life and the lives of your friends…because you are!-

Question… are you bored? Do you wake up and sometimes wonder how you will be able to bring some excitement into your life? If so, I don’t think you’re alone. Back in the day folks filled the hours with now forgotten things like ‘the outdoors’ and a really novel concept called a ‘book’.

But now we have 5000+ channels of comedy-animal planet-discovery-food-home shopping-MTV-you can learn Japanese in 30 days type stuff going on.

If that’s not enough, you can pretty much enfold hours of entertainment with compelling text message sessions that go like this:

?4U

SUP?

WRUD?

NMU

GG

L8R

Or…you can spend hours on Facebook while also checking your MySpace while downloading tunes and seeing what other movies Robert Redford has been in.

Like I asked…are you bored? Maybe that’s why the smash hit TV show 24 is now in its 8th season? Watching Jack Bauer and company throw down terrorists and save the nation seems to never get old – and it seems to be the way a lot of people spice up their lives.

And of course there’s nothing wrong with that. Unless of course you are sitting on the sidelines bogged down in a swamp of self entertainment when you actually should be carrying out one of your callings in life.

What calling? Well to be honest, it’s a lot like the recently disbanded CTU (Counter Terrorism Unit) in the show 24. Here’s the way it is described:

For weare not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

Sound like terrorism to you? The ‘Evil rulers’ and ‘mighty powers’ mentioned in this verse are demons who are serious about taking spiritual terrorism to a whole new level. They aren’t satisfied with destroying physical life, they want to claim eternal souls to join them in eternal torment.

And like Jack Bauer and the other former members of CTU that have banded together outside any official government agency to continue the fight against an impending terrorist attack, we all have a critical part to play in this battle. We can’t afford to have anyone sitting out on the battle at hand. That’s why we were given these orders:

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-11).

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Can you see what’s going on here? Part of the reason God left us on this earth after we trusted Christ was to take on the terrorism of Satan and his band of spiritual ‘insurgents.’ And you really don’t need to look around much to see the damage they inflict every day. Poverty, homelessness, injustice, broken relationships and hatred in the human heart are just of few of his weapons.

But we can fight back. And we need to fight back. The problem is that we are often more concerned about updating our status than we are about the status of hurting and enslaved people all around us.

My encouragement to you is to get active in the battle for eternal souls. Pray each day for victory in your life through the Holy Spirit. Put on God’s armor for protection, then go out and boldly go where few Christians have gone before.

And remember, one of your most effective weapons is the gospel message of Jesus. The good news that people can be set free from sin and secure a place in heaven simply by trusting in Jesus Christ alone is the equivalent of an air strike on Satan’s Kingdom.

Remember also – being effective in the spiritual battle is a moment-by moment practice of living according to God’s Word, in His power, confidently facing an enemy already defeated by the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and fearlessly sharing the gospel no matter what the cost.

If this becomes the pattern for your life, I absolutely guarantee the word boredom will never enter your vocabulary again!