“Good luck, nobody’s good at golf!”
These are the words I was met with earlier this year as I shared my pursuit to improve my golf game with some of my co-workers.
“Improve” may not be the right word. There must be an established golf game to improve it. It may have been more accurate to say, “I want to learn and get good at golf this year.”
That dismissive response was discouraging in January, but now, well into May – having logged countless hours with a club in my hand over the last five months – I’m beginning to understand what they meant. Being good at golf is really hard. It’s an unforgiving game. To do well on the course a hundred things have to go right. You have to be able to drive, chip, and putt – you can’t just hone and rely on one aspect. In addition to skill, a good swing, and making solid contact with the ball, you also need the mental stamina to endure 18 holes regardless of how you are playing. You have to hold the tension of accuracy and efficiency – and the added pressures of having other eyes on your game and the fear of delaying the players behind you don’t help either effort. One bad hole can really upset your scorecard (though I wouldn’t know much about that, because at this point every hole is still pretty rough, something my scorecard makes clear).
Despite my weekly, consistent effort, I’m still not good at golf.
But I am getting better.
At least that is what I’m being told by those patient enough to play with me. On Friday, my friend Allison told me she was so impressed with my improvement. I responded with shock. “You can tell I’m improving?!”
It’s hard to recognize any improvement when change is so incremental.
Practicing golf is teaching me so much about sanctification. Or has sanctification prepared me to practice golf? I think it’s both. What I know for sure is that both pursuits are slow and subtle, and unless you’re really paying attention, it’s easy to miss the ways in which things are changing.
The goal for the Christian is Christ-likeness – that over time we might be transformed into the image of Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us that as we behold the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into that same image from one degree of glory to another, by the power of the Spirit.
The way I’m practicing golf right now reminds me so much of my early days as a believer. I was fourteen years old and hungry to devour my Bible, to talk with and learn from other believers, eager to combat sin, and desperate to grow in my love and knowledge of Christ.
Those things are still true and by God’s grace, I can confidently say I know and love God more today than I did then, and I’d like to say I look more like Christ today than I did then – but my pursuit of Christ doesn’t always feel as desperate or ravenous as it did at 14 or 19 or 22. The longer I have followed Christ, the more comfortable that pursuit has become. Practices that once took extreme discipline have now become everyday habits. Conversations that were once met with fear or trepidation are now faced with a God-grown confidence. I have 18 years of following Christ to look back on and I can see how incremental change over time has amounted to real transformation. (Thank you, Lord!) But I never want to be so comfortable with the change that has taken place, that I don’t continue to long to see new change take place. I want to grow, I want to be transformed, and continue to pursue looking more like Jesus today than I did yesterday.
The Lord has been using the time, attention, and energy I’ve put into golf and the tiny, microscopic improvement I’m noticing week after week, to spur me on in my pursuit of Him. I’ve been reminded that practice is always a worthwhile endevour. I’ve been reminded that there is always more to practice, always areas to be refined.
I want to walk more intimately with God, pray more honest prayers, spend more time hiding His word in my heart, be quicker to confess sin, be slower to speak, and more attuned to His voice. I want to look back in another 18 years and 18 more after that and know confidently that I look more like Christ and less like me. Not because of my own effort and energy, but because of the transforming power of the Spirit that resides within me.
Forgive the sports metaphors today, friend – but if settled into a comfortable position, what might it look like to ask the Spirit to help you improve your game? What about your pursuit of Christ feels easy or comfortable and where might you have an opportunity to challenge yourself to practice or press into christ-likeness in new ways?
The good news for those in Christ is that there is a day coming when we will see him as he is and be made like him when he appears. What exactly does that mean? Only the Lord truly knows. But until then let’s do all that we can to practice Christ-likeness today.
