Is Tiger Woods just a mortal player now?

That was the headline on the MSN homepage Wednesday of this week. I think the question speaks to the issue in our culture of expecting larger-than-life performances out of people who are just that — people. How is it that we come to expect perfection out of mortal players, anyway? Why do we hold some people to higher standards than others, and then feel betrayed when those persons do not meet those inflated standards by making human/mortal mistakes?

I think that the answer had to do with the concept of “integrity.”

Do you remember the story of Job? The NRSV begins his story with these words, “There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” (Job 1:1) This man was blessed — with fine children, large herds of animals, very many servants, and a good wife. Job tried to live a blameless life. And, just in case his children weren’t living up to God’s standards, Job did his best to make offerings enough to cover their sins as well as his own. “This is what Job always did.” (1:5d)

“One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.” (1:6) Satan suggested that Job was faithful to God only because Job’s life seemed so easy — no setbacks had brought doubt into Job’s mind or soul.. God allowed that Satan could set up a test for Job. Satan could try Job’s faithfulness by any means, up to the point of death. And so, Satan allowed everything — children, herds, servants — to be taken from Job. Yet, through it all, Job remained steadfast. Even when his wife and his closest friends urged him to doubt God’s presence or to curse God’s involvement, Job remained true. Even when Job becomes convinced that God may have a hand in Job’s calamities, Job trusts. He says, “until I die, I will not put away my integrity from me.” (27:5b)

Tiger Woods is — and always has been — “just a mortal player.” The news reporters kept out of their stories any hints of his less-than-proper behavior, until it was just too obvious to hide any longer. We need heroes, but we also need to know that perfection is an unrealistic goal for our heroes and for ourselves.

Maintaining our integrity is difficult! I worked for a company once where I was asked to overcharge clients. My boss’s rationale was that “they do it to us all the time.” When I refused to send the inflated invoices, I was fired. That was hard — I had been out of work for several months, had a small child to provide for, and needed the references. But, more important than all of those things was my integrity. I didn’t think I could stop the practice of my employer, but I did not have to be a party to it. And so, another character-building step on my path.

“Better to be poor and walk in integrity than to be crooked in one’s ways even though rich.” That’s what wise King Solomon said in Proverbs 28:6. We have to be careful about what we actually admire in our heroes. Are they consistent in their choices? Do they exhibit uniform patterns of behavior? Are their explanations for choices and behavior coherent? Are ours? “The righteous walk in integrity — happy are the children who follow them!” (20:6)

A prayer that will help us in our attempts to “talk the talk and to walk the walk” is this: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)