Many of us are paid based on how much other people trust us..  This is the way the world works, and it shouldn’t surprise people or be up for debate.  In other words, I make my money by being a pastor.  When I became a pastor, I knew I would get paid, in a sense, not only to lead a church, but also to act a certain way to the people I was leading each week.  Every pastor understands this, including the ones that get caught with their proverbial (and sometimes literal) pants down.

Hollywood celebrities know this too.  That’s why they don’t whine when someone takes a picture of them getting out of the pool or taking their dog for a walk downtown to get a coffee at Starbucks.  Occasionally the paparazzi steps overboard and gets a little crazy, and nobody likes to see that, but for the most part there’s an understanding:  Public job = public eye = access to your life.

So then there’s Tiger, who thinks he deserves privacy now, a fact I don’t dispute, unless he means on something that has already gone public, like for instance, his life.  Listen, I could literally spend all day on YouTube watching commercials starring Tiger Woods telling me I should buy this car or this golf ball, or just turn on the Television for any amount of time before I see him again, and now he asks for privacy to the very people he basically gets a paycheck from?

And then I’m reminded of the inauthenticity of our culture again.  We like to be looked at as perfect, as a shining star, and as a poster boy for good role models in the universe.  Pastors, celebrities, athletes alike seek the approval, not only for our main job description, whether it’s preaching or acting or hitting a ball, but also for our character.  Because when our character is questioned, we are reminded that this is what actually helps us as “salespeople”.  In other words, what qualifies us to do what we do is not so much what we know, but how much we look like we can be trusted.  It is a matter, not of position, but of character.

Make no mistake my friends, the reason Tiger wants privacy is not because he doesn’t have privacy in the confines of his house.  There are kings in this world who I could get to faster than I could get to Tiger Woods right now.  But the reason he wants privacy is so we will forget the major character flaw that he has – that we all have – and once again his empire will be worth what it once was, thanks to his likeable smile…

and our horrible memories.

I’m freeing myself slowly from it.  The need to be everyone’s friend.  Sure I’m friendly with everyone, after all, it is my personality. But friends – I’m getting away from the addiction.

I used to believe that as a pastor of a church, I had to be friends with everyone in the church.  Consequently I would bend over backwards trying to please everyone, pour into everyone’s life individually, and in the end have a heaping full of watered down relationships.

Recently I’ve realized a better way.  Friendly towards all, but friends toward a few.  Real friends are hard to come by and they are not going to be made once a week in an hour.  Real friends develop connections through long conversations, time spent in mutual activity, and being real with one another.

I still believe the church is an amazing place to find real friends of character, integrity, and sacrifice, I just don’t believe that that friend has to be be me anymore.  It could be a life group leader or a band member, a nursery volunteer, or just a wise individual who happens to be in a seat each Sunday.  Just because someone has a title doesn’t mean they are your friend.  A title doesn’t make a friend…

a sacrifice does.

Obama to Biden: "Ummmm, please shut up."

I don’t say a lot about politics on here, but I thought this story was worth a mention, because it speaks more about character in the little things than anything else.  (Coincidentally, I just read from Matthew 25 when Jesus tells the story of the master who gave a bit of responsibility to 3 servants)

Sometime in the last 24 hours, President Obama and Vice President Biden were talking to the press.  Someone asks Biden if he was going to swear everyone else in, because Biden had forgotten that he had more to do.  Then Biden immediately decides to make a joke, essentially selling out Justice Roberts from the Supreme Court and his little mess up at the inauguration and says “I don’t have as good of a memory as Justice Roberts.”  At this joke, the press laughed really hard, and it even received a few “ooohhhh”s.

But Obama’s reaction was stone cold. (this link is time sensitive and will probably not be there tomorrow, but eventually you’ll be able to check it out on you tube)  He didn’t laugh.  He didn’t smirk.  He simply and slowly reached out his arm, and touched Biden’s arm as if to say, “We don’t have time for your partisan, crappy jokes that have the intention of drawing attention away from yourself and onto others shortcomings.”

An absolutely amazing moment.  One of the things this little story did for me was helped me realize that though I might not agree with everything President Obama does, as I haven’t agreed with everything any other president has done in the last 20 years, I already respect him for being the person who he says he is, and this is a quality that has been non-existent in our nations capitol maybe since Washington in his two terms.

What do you think?  Was this character or just for show?