None of us Likes to Stink

I don't golf very much. It is because I get aggravated at the stupid game in which I can hit a great shot and still get an 8 on a hole because I hit a lousy shot right after. I played yesterday with my father in Arizona. It was the first time I had touched golf clubs in probably two years. Nevertheless, I hit my first drive straight down the middle of the fairway and then hit the middle of the green on all three Par 3's. Still I followed it up with bad putting or bad chipping, all of which translated to a mediocre score.


I don't like to be lousy at something. But in order to be good at golf, I would need to devote significant amounts of time and probably lessons to get to the necessary skills to be decent. And at this point in my life I am not willing to devote the time and money to be good. So I know going out there that I will be hard-pressed to break 100. I should not be surprised that I don't experience hardship in a game that requires practice and precision.

I run into so many guys in the Christian life who do the same thing with their faith. They don't spend any time reading the Bible or praying or memorizing. They treat it like a drive-through at Wendy's. A few minutes here, a few minutes there. Their excuse is that they are too busy. So they should expect to have a mediocre, unproductive faith because with a faith relationship comes an investment of time. I don't show up on a golf course and become Tiger Woods (oops maybe not a good example now but you get the point). I can't become a productive believer without spending the time.

Paul says in 1st Corinthians 9 that we are to treat our spiritual lives as running a race. He also says in 1 Timothy 4:7 to train ourselves for godliness. In other words an investment of time and attention. We can still expect to sin, but when we sin we become much more conscious of our sin and the gap between us and the holiness of God. As golf demands almost perfection so God's standard is perfection.