Golf Gulf

This past Friday I played my first, and perhaps my only, round of golf for the year. The picture above shows the threesome of my foursome. We were playing in a an outing sponsored by a couple of local organizations raising money for good causes. The fellowship was good, the food after was good, the weather was good, and the golf was good. We shot 8 under. My contribution to that score was minimal. Although, not to brag, I did finish us up by shooting a birdie on the final hole - a par 3. It was a beautiful shot - probably the best of the outing . . . . . . sorry, I digress. My help on the rest of the 18 was limited to a lot of verbal encouragement. For one thing, you cannot play golf once a year and do exceptionally well. For another, there were two others on the team that play every week - one of which use to be a golf pro. Dave, the guy on the right in the picture, is a weight lifter who, when he connects, almost knocks the skin off of the ball. So, I was there for the moral support. "Atta Boy!" "Great Shot!" "Your the Man!" Our score was not enough to place - the winning team shot a 14 or 15 under. But, 8 under is a score never achievable me alone. Playing best-ball made it possible. As a pastor, the lesson in that is all too obvious - which are the best lessons I learn. The Lord builds teams to accomplish his purposes. I have very little patience for the man/woman who discards the church as useless. Imperfect? Yes. Sometimes hurtful? Yes. Inconsistent? Yes. Intolerant? Sometimes. But, the work of the kingdom advances through the work of the body - a team dedicated to moving forward under the leadership of the King. It is not about the lone person, the American ideal of the individual, who takes on the world. Leadership is important. Single individuals have significant impact. But, in the end, it is about the body. Maybe I should play more - as a reminder of this lesson - and others - such as patience, persistence, hitting it fat, keeping my head down, not gripping too tightly, etc, etc, etc.