The Daily Jewel

by Pastor J.T.Carnell, McAlester, OK

“Sorry...You are not allowed a Mulligan!” 

“Adultery is a brainless act, soul-destroying, self-destructive; expect a bloody nose, a black eye, and a reputation ruined for good.” – Proverbs 6:32, 33 (MSG)

We serve a God of second chances—something I am eternally grateful for.  I have taken advantage of His Grace and Mercy on more than one occasion…as have most of us I would imagine.  Unfortunately, we do not always get opportunities for second chances when it comes to life and how people view us.  When we make mistakes or make some very bad decisions we don’t always get a “mulligan” so-to-speak. 

For the uninitiated, in the game of golf a mulligan represents a “do over.”  If you shank a shot or hit a ball that winds up unrecoverable, a “mulligan” allows you to try again—hopefully hitting a better shot!  It must be stated that mulligan’s only apply to golfers like me—those who only play once in a while for nothing more than self-respect.  Pro golfers, on the other hand do not get to take a mulligan.  With that said there is probably one particular golfer who would very much like to have a mulligan or two when it comes to his personal life.

In 1996 the professional golf tour welcomed a young, upcoming and brash player by the name of Eldrick Woods.  Most of us know him by his nick name…”Tiger.” Since his debut on the PGA tour, Woods has won 14 professional major golf championships, the second highest of any male player (Jack Nicklaus leads with 18), and 71 PGA Tour events, third all time.  He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, (winning all four major tournaments: The Masters, U.S. Open, The British Open and the PGA Championship) and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour. Additionally, Woods is only the second golfer, after Jack Nicklaus, to have achieved a career Grand Slam (winning all four majors in a calendar year) three times. Woods has won 16 World Golf Championships, and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999.

Most golfing experts believed that Tiger would break Nicklaus’s record of 18 major wins before he turned 40 (Nicklaus was 46 when he won his last) and would probably have more career wins than any golfer in history. There are those who believed he would be the greatest golfer to have ever played the game. 

Then in late November of 2009, police were called to the scene of an accident near his home.  He left his Orlando-area home around 2:30 am in his SUV, hit a hedge, a fire hydrant, and, finally, a tree, just down the street from his house. Woods was a bit bloodied, treated for minor facial lacerations, and cited for careless driving. He paid a $164 traffic ticket, but refused to speak to the police and the accident fanned intense speculation for two days, until Woods released a statement on his website, taking blame for the crash and adding that it was a private matter. 

On December 11, 2009, Woods announced he would take an indefinite leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage after he admitted infidelity. His multiple infidelities were revealed by over a dozen women, through many worldwide media sources. In April of 2010, Woods returned to competition for The Masters where he tied for 4th.  He would not win a single tournament the entire year—the first time that has happened in his career.  His wife Elin filed for divorce in the summer of 2010.  It is safe to say that Tiger’s “indiscretions” not only destroyed his marriage but has damaged his career and tarnished his reputation. 

In 2008, Tiger Woods was the highest paid commercial spokesman in the world.  He made more money promoting products than he made playing golf.  As a direct result of the revelation of his affairs, all but two of the product sponsors dropped him at an estimated cost of $30 million dollars lost—a Year!

Tiger’s “nose” has been bloodied—his career right now is in shambles—his marriage destroyed and his reputation has been greatly tarnished to say the least.  All as a result of his lack of discretion.  I wonder if Solomon knew some “Tigers” in his day? 

You don’t have to be a pro golfer—making millions of dollars to lose the things that are important to you, like reputation and family, all because one chooses to live outside of the boundaries that God has laid.  In fact, in the game of golf if a ball is hit out of bounds you lose a stroke and in many cases when that happens it can cost the player to lose the tournament. And you do not get a mulligan to make it better.

Stay in bounds!  God created those boundaries for our good—to keep us strong.  He knows what is right and why we need to remain under His control.