The Real Golf Experience

I showed up early, had lunch, made sure I had time to hit the driving range before we ventured onto the course. While I was on the driving range I was solid. Seriously I was hitting some of the best shoots of my life. I was so excited! I went and hit some putts on the practice green and did well. I was ready.

With all the confidence in the world I step up for my first drive and hit the ball just onto the left side of the fairway where it bounces a couple of times and then lands in some thick rough. It was long, but couldn't be played. It couldn't be found for that matter. We were in a four man scramble format which is an official way of saying everyone hits from wherever the best shot landed. I think on all 14 holes we used 6 of my shots.

So here are a few things I learned. I'm not a great golfer, but I so enjoyed being out there with some guys that I love to hang out with. If I had been forced to always hit from where my ball had previously landed I would have survived, but it would have been much less fun. My final lesson was that it really matters who the guys are in your scramble.

I applied these lessons to my life by 1, recognizing that I am messed up in my own nature. Just like I'm not a great golfer, neither am I able to live a life that is good. It seems like what I intend doesn’t get accomplished and my actions always fall short of expectations (Romans 3:23, Mark 10:18).

Then lesson 2, I would have really struggled if I had been forced to hit from where I had originally hit my ball. Instead I got to hit from where the best shot had been hit. Though I deserved to play from a really bad situation I almost always got to play from a position that was much better than I had earned. Just like in Romans 6:23 where scripture tells me what I earned for not being good was death, but God provides life through the gift of Christ. Christ really is the best player. In fact He is perfect. To draw out the illustration He always hits the best ball. He always buts us in a place to where we can do the very best that can be done. He through His grace empowers us to live better than we could ever imagine on our own.

Lesson three was also a great lesson. Obviously you need Christ as part of your scramble if you hope to do well in life, but you also want to make sure that the rest of you group is healthy to be with. That is not to say that you ignore or are hateful to other teams. It is only to say that you should surround yourself with people that will help you grow and mature in your game.

The game of life is critical make good decisions. Decide to humble yourself and recognize that this game wasn't intended to be won on your own. Decide to ask Christ to carry you and your team. Decided to surround yourself with good team mates. Finally decide to have fun and enjoy the beauty. When you walk with Christ you are sure to find plenty of amazing sights.

Real?

So yesterday I was a little long winded about the whole future hope, other world ideas from scripture. Today I am feeling much more down to earth. Here's the deal. I have a friend that dominates me at all sorts of competition. If you know me well you would know that this doesn't settle well with me. I like to win! My wife and I have a hard time driving separate cars to the same location because without either one of saying a word it is automatically a race. I know, I know, I'm not here to argue the merits of such ventures I'm only saying that I am competitive and enjoy winning. Well this friend I have that beats me at anything he sets his mind to wins at everything except one huge earth changing competition . . . Wii Golf. Every week we do our accountability questions and plan ministry events we do together while we play Wii golf. I almost always come out on top in the golf game and walk away feeling good.
Tomorrow is a different story! I was asked to put a foursome together for a golf tournament fund raiser for FCA an organization that supports and encourages Christianity on school campuses. Of course I jumped at the opportunity and am quite excited. The only problem is that I asked my friend to play with us and he is awesome at real golf and I can just here him for the next eight years when I beat him at Wii golf, "Yeah but on the real course . . . .” So I find myself totally psyching myself out for tomorrow. The question becomes how I can translate my Wii game into real life. How do I translate my hopes into everyday life? This has been the stewing question of today.
Remembering yesterday's blog this question takes on even more weight. How do I take my faith and hopes and apply them in real life situations. Even as I write this I am led to remember our Lord's command in John 13:34-35,"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
To love people like Christ loved them is His plan to identify Himself in us. That doesn't seem that difficult. Now if only Golf were that simple!

My Avatar Experience

So I don't know how you feel about Avatar, but I want to share some insights that have been refreshing to me. When I first saw the Avatar I was one of eight people in our group. I was a bit perplexed, found it hard to relate to, distracted by the blue people. My wife loved it! The others in our party didn't really care much for it at all. When the movie was recently released on DVD my wife purchased it the first day. Since then I have watched the movie, at least partially, several times and have grown fond of the message.

In particular I really appreciate how broken the main hero, Jake Sully is! Consider him on the physical level his legs are wrecked as a result of an injury that seems completely unfair. He is a hero in everyday life. As a military man he has served his country. What does he get in return . . . the loss of the use of his legs? Doesn't that just seem like someone who does what is right and pays a heavy, even seemingly unfair price? We haven't all suffered unfairly to this extent, but we certainly do understand what it is to sacrifice and sometimes feel like it wasn't worth it in the end.

Consider Jake Sully's self-esteem . . . doesn't it seem like he is just trying to swap lives. Here he is returning from service nowhere really to go. In his mind nothing really to contribute. Someone offers him an incredibly difficult assignment that had been intended for his much more brilliant and intellectually focused brother. The smart move for Jake would be to say “I don't think that is for me,” but he he jumps at the opportunity. How bad must you think your life is to jump at the opportunity for something different even if what is different is so difficult and even seems to be something you are not able to do? You must think you current existence has no value.

You know Jake Sully's emotions were rocked to the core. He had just lost a twin brother. That kind of loss carries hurt and scars that can't be whisked away by anything short of a miracle. Again most have never endured such pain but all are familiar with at least some measure of loss and can at least relate to the pain.

Once I saw the hurt in the character Jake Sully rather than just a blue giant I was overwhelmed with the beauty He experienced. No wonder he ran as soon as he had legs. No wonder he was willing to risk everything for the chance to experience the avatar existence!

Since this story has circulated so frequently through my home it has now served as an illustration for me in my own walk with Christ. I am broken just like Jake Sully. He carried it better than I do, but we are broken. No wonder I so readily reach out for a new way. No wonder I trust that I will be completely healed. Regardless of the struggles we can trust that we will be and even are already being restored physically, emotionally, psychologically and every other struggle we encounter.

2 Corinthians 5
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

It is the acknowledgement that Christ makes us a new creation that fulfills my wildest hope. Though we don’t sore on dragon backs, we are children of God able to withstand and even defeat anything that comes against us (Romans 8:28-39). The brokenness is forsaken and the abundant life is my experience in Christ! The brokenness I once felt so immersed in is no longer my home (Psalms 40:2-4)! God has revealed that my home is different, better (Hebrews 11:13-16). It is to that home that I look forward to (Revelation 21:1-4). It is to that home that I look for motivation. It is that place with Christ that helps me make each decision while here. Praise God for that home! So if you haven’t had a chance to jump in your avatar give it some thought. Christ has prepared a way for you to take flight!