Grace Community Christian Church

 

Archived Things Above

Golf & the Kingdom of God (8/1/01)

One Sunday was a picture perfect day for golfing. The sun was shining, no clouds in the sky, & the temperature was just right. The preacher was in a quandary as to what to do . . . play golf or fulfill his Sunday morning church obligations? Shortly, the urge to play golf overcame him. He called his associate, told him he was sick, & asked the associate to take care of the Sunday church service for him. He packed up the car & drove three hours to a golf course where he was certain no one would recognize him. Happily, he began to play the course.

An angel up above was watching the preacher, & was quite perturbed.

He went to God & said, "Look at that preacher! He should be punished for what he is doing." God nodded his head in agreement.

The preacher teed up on the first hole. He swung at the ball & hit a perfect drive, straight as an arrow, four hundred yards directly to the green, where it gently rolled into the cup (as they say in basketball, "nothing but net"). A picture perfect hole-in-one. He was amazed & excited.

The angel was a little shocked. He turned to God & said, "Begging Your pardon, but I thought you were going to punish him?"

God smiled. "I did. Think about it - who can he tell?"


Although the above is just a story, a racquetball friend of mine recently told me of a church looking for a new minister. One of the job requirements was that he not play golf!! You don't have to be terribly imaginative to figure out what their problem was with the last guy!

Whether it's the pastor or the person in the pew, we all have choices to make every day regarding the priority of the kingdom of God in our lives. Believe it or not, your commitment to this church, or lack thereof, is keenly felt.

I know lots of things compete for your time & energy. So does Jesus, which is why he reminds us ". . . be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things." Matthew 6:33 (TEV)

(By the way, by the time you read this, I'll be up in Prince Edward Island, Canada, home to some of the world's most beautiful golf courses. I'll be sure to let you know if God's as good to me as he was to the pastor in the story!)


Jim Dewar --