I am not the avid golfer and don’t own golf clubs. Although I value my experiences at Valley Fellowship’s men’s golf trips, my most enjoyable moments come while driving the golf cart. I have a problem with losing my golf balls when I reach a body of water of any size. I knock my ball, and the next one, and the next one, into the drink. My playing partner usually offers his practice balls and one by one I knock them into the water. I could save time and money by giving my partner all of my balls as soon as I meet up with a water hazard. I would still get pleasure from driving the rest of the day – driving the cart, not the balls.
I haven’t been able to perfect the shot that gets my dimpled-ball over the water and onto the green. With coaching (Thank you, Steve & Barry), I get air under my balls from a practice tee. After careful consideration I have decided my athletic skills are better suited for some other sport. I don’t have the time or money to improve my golf game, but I can grow spiritually – becoming more like Jesus Christ.
Apparently, my golfing ability is static – I parred the ninth hole on my first round of golf, and I parred only one hole the last time I played. But, healthy believers grow. God’s wonderful creation displays growing things. Healthy plants flourish in the proper environment. Even the fairway grass (that I duff!) on the golf course grows. Infants grow; babies don’t stay babies forever; they mature. Change is meant to occur. Believers grow. The Lord does not intend for us to remain the same; He wants us to grow more and more free from sin and more like Jesus Christ in our actual lives.
I discovered golfers never stop trying to perfect their games. Whether it’s working on accuracy from the tee box or improving their short game around the green, they are always in pursuit of the flawless shot. At the moment of new birth in Christ, a progressive, cooperative growth work between God and a human being begins. The Apostle Paul describes this process as a pursuit, as a “perfecting” process. “Dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God (2 Corinthians 7:1 NIV).”
Our part in this growth process is both passive in that we depend on God’s work and active in that we strive to obey God. The conditional nature of “let us” underscores the active role we play in perfecting holiness, a life-long process involving daily yielding and individual responsibility. The words “let us” (2 Cor. 7) bring to light that we have a choice to make. Will we build up patterns and habits of Christ-likeness? Will we cooperate actively with Him in this process? The little improvement I enjoyed in my golf game came when I listened and heeded the advice of real golfers.
I am holy through Christ Jesus, but I am deeply aware of my own imperfection. However, I am growing more like Jesus Christ who never sinned. Jesus Christ is our perfect example. None of us yet match our pattern as God intended, but we are being changed. God is not finished. An old gospel song proclaims that simple message:
There really ought to be a sign upon my heart,
“Don’t judge him yet, there’s an unfinished part.”
But I’ll be perfect just according to His plan,
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Fashioned by the Master’s loving hand.
He’s still working on me
To make me what I ought to be
It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars,
The Sun and the Earth and Jupiter and Mars.
How loving and patient He must be,
He’s still workin’ on me. [Joel Hemphill, He’s Still Working On Me (Hemphill Music, 1980).]
Spiritual growth is not accomplished all at once. No one is there yet! We may never become professional golfers, but we can become what the Lord intends. No one is perfect, but we are perfecting. Are you ready to cooperate with the Lord and grow? Examine your own life. If you ask the Lord, the Holy Spirit will spotlight something. What is one area where you need to grow? Are you willing to address it?
