If you’re like me and unlike my friend Ben who shoots in the
70s and about smashes the cover off a ball, you don’t put a lot of stock in
your score after a round of golf. Golf
has a simple objective – get the ball in the hole in as few shots as possible. You’d think it would be pretty easy to do
that, but just ask any “golfer” you know, and you’ll quickly understand that
it’s anything but easy.
So why is this simple game so difficult? For starters, it’s chock-full
of choices. What type of ball will I use – hard, soft, more dimples, less
dimples? Should I wear a glove? 4-iron
or 5-iron from the tee? Oops, should have used the 5! Long tee or short tee, wooden tee or plastic
tee? Pitching wedge, gap wedge, sand wedge, or lob wedge? I think I’ll go
with the lob wedge. Should it be the 60 degree or the 65 degree lob? And so on…
It’s also difficult
because it takes a ton of practice. Unless I spend hours at the driving range
and play a lot more often than once every couple months, I’ll never amount to much
on the course. It takes time and
commitment to truly understand the game.
Finally, golf is difficult because it’s easy to lose focus
and do things my own (incorrect) way.
When I play with Ben, he tries to teach me how to properly swing the
club. He does a great job explaining the
mechanics of the swing, using analogies and metaphors, usually something about
how a door swings on hinges. He doesn’t
know this (or at least I don’t think he does); sometimes I see his lips moving,
but I’m not hearing anything he’s saying. I’m tuning him out. My mind is saying, “Just
go up there and hit the ball.” But when
I step up to the ball, I lose focus. I do things my own way, what feels most
comfortable, and my ball usually flies WAY off target. If I paid complete attention
to the instructions and studied the proper techniques, I’d hit the ball much
better.
Being a true follower of Christ is much like playing golf. The Bible presents a simple plan of becoming
a Christian, a simple way of worshipping, and a simple way of living a
righteous life. However, society and the religious world have a way of
complicating simple concepts.
It’s difficult to be
a true Christian because there are so many choices. Christ established and died for one
church (Acts 2:47, Eph. 1:22-23, Eph. 4:4-6), but the world will tell you that
any of the 35,000+ “Christian” churches are just as good as another. People have no idea what the Bible really
teaches, and they go to church whenever and wherever they choose, oftentimes
where their family has always gone, where they feel most entertained, or where
it’s most popular to attend.
It’s difficult to be
a true Christian because it takes a ton of practice. You can’t expect God
to save you if you never do what He says (Lev. 22:31; John 14:15), if you don’t
live as a Christian (1 John 1:7), if you never study His word (2 Tim. 2:15),
and if you never teach anyone else (Mark 16:15-16).
It’s difficult to be a true Christian because it’s easy to lose focus and do things our own way. Throughout the book of Judges, God’s people continually disobey His instructions. I believe the root of their problem is seen in the last verse of the book (Judges 21:25): “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes (emphasis added).” I think that’s the root cause of the disobedience in today’s religious world. Most people do what they think is right in their own eyes, never considering what the Bible says.
Thankfully, I’ll never have to answer to Christ for my
terrible golf game. But I will have to
answer to Him for the way I live my life. In fact, we will all stand before Him in judgment (2 Cor. 5:10), whether we believe
that or not. If you haven’t put on
Christ in baptism (Gal 3:27) for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38) and been
added to His one and only church (Acts 2:47), I encourage you to study His word
and decide to do so ASAP. After all, the
only thing that really counts is the score we turn in after our round of life.
