Foot Wedge…(by Mel McGuire)

There is a concept in golf that mirrors real life, not that golf isn’t real life, it is. For some people golf is life, but that is another subject entirely. I am talking about the concept of “improving your lie”. By lie, I do not mean an untruth, but your situation. In golf this often calls for the “foot wedge”.

One of the fundamental rules of golf is that you must, in most cases, play your ball as it lies. One of the challenges of golf is to matriculate your ball around the course from a variety of lies. On a typical golf course, in a typical round of golf, you will need to hit your ball from thin grass (fairways and greens), thick grass (the rough), no grass (hard pan), sand (bunkers), and negotiate obstacles (usually trees).

Often amateur golfers playing a casual round, will ignore the rules about improving their lie and will incorporate the “foot wedge”. The foot wedge is not an actual golf club, but as the name implies, a technique whereby you move your ball to a better spot by using your foot.

Why a foot? Because it is easier to disguise what you are doing with your ball if you do not have to bend over to pick it up with your hand, or use a real golf club and take a real stroke. Thus, the foot wedge. Golfers justify it all the time, I know I do when I hit a perfect drive in the middle of the fairway and my ball comes to rest…in a divot. Foot wedge it an inch or so and presto! A perfect lie.

Many Christians incorporate this same concept in their walk with God. They are always trying, legally and otherwise to “improve their lie” and will use a spiritual equivalent of a foot wedge if they can.

There are times in life that are difficult, when things may not seem fair (like divots in the fairway), when your approach is blocked, and you are tempted to foot wedge yourself to a better spot. Do not do it! Like in golf, a foot wedge is not playing by the rules.

Tiger Woods, the greatest golfer I have ever seen, would play practice rounds and many times he would intentionally step on his ball to make his lie worse. He did this, so he could practice more difficult shots, knowing that in a tournament, not every lie would be perfect.

Believers need to take heed to that mindset. He was not afraid of tough lies, difficult situations, or uncomfortable circumstances. We cannot fear them either. They are promised to us and with those promises come opportunities for victory!

Persecution will come. Offenses will come. Your faith, and patience, and love, and kindness will be challenged. Play it as it lies. It will make you better. As they say in the military, “embrace the suck”. Yeah, it might hurt. Your score may not be as great as someone else, but you will be better for staying within the rules, and keeping your integrity.

Lose the foot wedge, play it as it lies. Spiritual strength comes from overcoming tough times. Don’t be like the golfer who relies on the foot wedge and deceives themselves into believing they are better than they truly are. God loves you will give you victory without you having to ignore, bend, or break His rules. When He is your waymaker, you don’t need a foot wedge.

“Golf…” (by Mel McGuire)

I play golf. Golf breaks down to four basic areas…from the tee to the fairway, from the fairway to the green, playing from around the green but off the green, and finally, putting. As in putting the ball in the hole.

Rarely have I had all facets of my game clicking on the same day in the same round. This is what is known as having your “A” game. I believe I have one, I have just never seen it.

We all have had days we drove it straight and true, avoided the water, the rough, the sand and the trees…off the tee. Then we hit every greenside bunker on the course, or we fly the ball too long or too short, or to the right or left.

Or our short game is money, but we can’t make a putt. We hit it too hard, too soft (Alice), or play too much break or not enough break. And yet, we come back, time and time again, waiting for that day when it all comes together.

My walk with God is a lot like my golf game. It has four basic areas. The Word. Prayer. Worship and Praise, and fellowship. Rarely have all facets of my life been clicking on all cylinders at the same time to the same degree of faith and power.

Sometimes I read the word and it may as well be Greek or Hebrew. Other times my prayers feel as strong as tissue paper. I love the body, but every now and again, I just don’t want to be bothered with people. Since I am being honest, all those areas require individual attention and specialized focus. Just like my golf game.

We all know people who are range masters…hitting long straight shots, fading it, drawing it, hitting it low or high on demand. Then they get on the course and the only time they are in the fairway is to cross from one side to the other looking for their last shot.

Some of us are super saints on Sunday, but struggle the other six days a week. We love church, but can’t seem to find God at home, or at work. We love a good sermon, but our only private revelation is a chapter in the back of our bible.

In order to have a productive walk with the Lord, I believe we must operate in all of these areas simultaneously. We don’t have to be perfect, but we need to be good at something. Two of the four is good, three would be great and four would be, well it would be four.

Take time each day and practice each area. Go to your strength to keep it strong, but then use it to shore up your weak areas. Each one can provide insight and assistance to improving the others.

Finally remember, one great shot does not a necessarily mean a great hole or a great score. Its all about when and where your great shot occurs. Same thing in the Lord. Timing is everything.

The right scripture, song, prayer, or touch can make everything prior insignificant. So just as in golf, you can get frustrated and want to quit, in Christ, the challenges sometimes can seem overwhelming.

Those who make it look easy are like good golfers, they work at it. They practice good habits and they work at it. That is my encouragement to you as a believer. Keep at it. Make tomorrow better than today, make this week better than last, this month, this year, better than the ones before.

Growth may be slow and hard to measure, but progress will be made. The newest greatest technology can make things easier (hybrids, etc.) but you still have to have a good, sound, repeatable swing to take advantage of it.

Getting to God is easier and more convenient, but you still have to want to know Him and be like Him to take advantage of it.

Golf, and Christianity. Simple concepts, but the joy is in the journey

“Putter…” (by Mel McGuire)

I fancy myself a golfer. I enjoy the game, the courses I visit, and the people I meet. I marvel at how much money golfers spend on their equipment, especially drivers. Every year, club manufacturers promise the newest, longest, straightest hitting club they have ever made…at a price. The gains in performance for the average golfer are minimal. The golf saying, “You drive for show but you putt for dough” is still true! So let’s talk about the putter.

The putter is the one club you will actually use the most. It is the essence of golf, for it is the club you use to actually hit the ball into the hole, which is the point of the game. It does not look like any other club, and yet it is arguably the most valuable.

Putters come in all shapes and sizes, because every golfer needs one. They look different, but they have the same goal…roll the ball into the hole. Good ones are used for years and they are hard to replace. As such, the grip on the putter is different, the energy exerted is different, and the design of the club is different. A putter is not judged by terms like “ball speed” or “swing speed”, “launch angle” or “spin rate”. The putter is more associated with phrases like, “well balanced”, “rolls true”, “solid feel”, and “minimal twist”.

Though the putting stroke is the shortest in distance, it actually stays in contact with the ball the longest.

In the body of Christ, some people really are like the putter, and God has placed them in the body to remind us of the true essence of our Christianity. They are those people who are not flamboyant, high maintenance, overtly charismatic,  or the most obvious. Prayer warriors are putters. Those that serve on every “behind the scenes” ministry are the putters of the church. Good ones serve for years and they are hard to replace.

Those folks who look a little different than everyone else, that need to be handled differently, those who require extra focus and some finesse, they are like the putter. They remind us of our commandment to love, and to be patient. All of us, at one time or another, spend some time as somebody’s putter. Whether it was a one-time situation, or a season of our life, we served to remind someone of the essence of Christianity, to love one another like He loves us.

Children make great putters. They must be handled with care, stroked and not smashed, and valued for their contributions. Our seniors are putters, sometimes we have to walk a little further with them, be quiet around them, and slow down for them. They did it for us when we were young and someone will do it for us again when we are the seniors. Take care of your putter and your putter will take care of you.

In short the putter is what Jesus called “the least of these”, and they are the most important measure of how well we are doing. Golfers know they can hit every fairway, hit every green…but if you can’t make the putts…you will not have a good round. The point is to get the ball in the hole, not close to the hole…in the hole. So while we spend more money on drivers, we should spend more time with our putters.

How are you treating your putter?

“Driving Range…” (by Mel McGuire)

I went to the driving range after not having played golf for about six months. My main goal was to not hurt myself and try to stir up some muscle memory so I could resume playing real golf on a real course. I began by working on my fundamentals.

There a few basics needed to have a good golf swing. These include, your grip, stance, and alignment…all critical before you even hit the ball.

So I started by checking my grip. If your grip is too tight you lose flexibility and power. You add stress and tension, which makes everything else more stiff and forced. Too loose of a grip and you will lose the club. Grip pressure should be light, but firm enough to hang on for maximum swing speed.

Next I checked my stance, my posture… my position relative to the ball. Again it is important not to stand too tall, and you don’t want to be stooped over either. The key is to be on balance, and so you find a posture that allows you to remain in control throughout the swing.

Then I checked my alignment, which on this day, was off by more than a little bit. I checked my feet, hips, and shoulders…then lastly my swing path, to make sure I was hitting the ball at what I was aiming at, and not just spraying it all over.

As I hit balls, making small adjustments with each series of swings, I was struck by the spiritual lessons involved. How is my grip? My understanding of what I believe. Am I holding on so tight to dogmatic positions that I am not flexible? Am I so legalistic that I am robbing the Holy Spirit of opportunities to bring forth life and demonstrate His power? Is my “grip pressure” causing undue tension and stress in relationships or in my testimony?

As long as I keep the necessary points of contact, who Jesus is, what our condition was, what Jesus did about it, and what we are supposed to do until He returns, I can relax and “free up” my interactions with believers and non-believers alike.

When I check my stance, I am looking for areas of pride that cause me to stand too tall. Then I look for areas of low self-esteem (also a form of pride) where I position myself in a lower or lesser state than what God says about me. I check until I find balance, that place where I stand as a child of God, a prince, a warrior. But I acknowledge that all that I am, or hope to be, it is because of His grace and NOT because of me.

Finally I check my alignment. Am I looking in the right direction? Do I have the right target? Am I “on plane” with God’s will for my life at this time? Are the swings I am making (the things I do) producing the shot I want (the will of God for my life)? If not, I need to make adjustments until they are, and I create new muscle memory. Pros do this every day.

We all could use a little “range time” to check our grip, stance, and alignment. To practice and make sure we are sound in our fundamentals and creating good spiritual muscle memory. See you on the range…