The thing is, most Christians are as Buddhist as Tiger Woods wants to
\nbe!<\/em><\/p>\nCan you guess what I mean?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Tiger Woods is facing the same challenge we all do: What do we do with our
\ndesires?<\/p>\n
Two basic answers: Feed Them or Deny Them.<\/p>\n
Option #1 is fraught with promise and peril. When we feed our desires we can
\nsay, “We are doing what comes natural.” That is, God gave me these desires and
\nit’s only right to follow their lead. The downside? Weight gain, broken hearts,
\nSTDs, debt, and, oftentimes, a secret life.<\/p>\n
Secrecy sets in because something inside us knows that just pursuing our desires
\nwithout limits is wrong. Tiger said as much.<\/p>\n
Option #2, a denial of our desires, has one big downside: Suffering. We
\nsuffer when we don’t indulge our desires. There is a discomfort that goes along
\nwith not doing what you feel you have to do. Just try not to scratch your next
\nitch and see if you wouldn’t describe it as suffering. Denial of desire carries
\nwith it ultimate satisfaction, but rarely do we get to experience it because we
\ndon’t like the suffering required to get there.<\/p>\n
Tiger’s solution to the dilemma is to become a better Buddhist. This ancient
\nphilosophy teaches a great deal about dealing with desires. <\/p>\n
Here’s a summary of “The Four Noble Truths” of Buddhism: Life leads to
\nsuffering; suffering is caused by desires; suffering ends when desires end;
\nthus we should eliminate our desires.<\/p>\n
I think that most Christians, in practice at least, are as Buddhist as Tiger
\nwants to be … unfortunately.<\/p>\n
Unlike Buddhism, Christianity has a very different view of suffering and
\ndesires. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Unearned suffering is redemptive.” Jesus
\ndidn’t exempt himself from suffering and he invites us to take up our cross and
\nfollow him (Matt. 16;24). Furthermore, desires are meant to be pursued to their
\nfullest extent. That is, all the way to God.<\/p>\n
That’s why Jesus is revealed as bread and water … so that we might feast
\non Him. That’s why the psalmist sang, “Fill me with joy in your presence, with
\neternal pleasures at your right hand” (Ps. 16:11). Our soul is able to sing
\nbecause it is God “who satisfies our desires with good things” (Ps. 103:5).<\/p>\n
Like Tiger Woods, we all must confront the root of our sins and strive for
\nhealing and restoration. I just hope that we can recognize that genuine healing
\nmust eventually get beyond the act of denying ourselves and focus on the
\nprocess of allowing ourselves to be filled with the good things of God.<\/p>\n
C.S. Lewis was correct when he said that our problem is that we satisfy with
\ntoo little. Like little children making mud pies in the gutter when we are
\nbeing offered a vacation to build sandcastles on the beach. <\/span><\/p>\n(This commentary also appears at UrbanFaith.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-misc"],"yoast_head":"\n
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Author of Finding the Groove: Composing a Jazz-Shaped Faith (Zondervan) and the upcoming, Strange Fruit: The Cross as a Way of Life (2011). Founder of Project 127, a ministry dedicated to seeing the day when there are no children waiting for homes in Colorado's foster care system. Robert deeply desires to see the body of Christ mobilized to serve the least of these. The poor, the down and out, the disenfranchised and disabled, those deemed unimportant and the unborn. He believes that God loves all people yet he has a special heart for the poor and the poor in spirit, the miserable and the marginalized. A Contributing Editor for Leadership Journal and Urbanfaith.com. He acquired a B.A. in Bibilcal Studies from Colorado Christian University and a Master of Arts in World Christianity (Missiology) from Denver Seminary. Robert is married to the love of his life, Barbara, and they have six energetic children (3 boys & 3 girls--one bio, five adopted--two from Ethiopia). Friend of God...Passionate about the Body of Christ...Lover of this thing called jazz! Please visit Jazztheologian.com for contact info., speaking schedule, videos, Facebook and Twitter.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/author\/rgelinas"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}