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Philippians 3 – If Paul Played Golf
Many people, including preachers, golf. What if the apostle Paul were alive today, watching YouTube videos that promised how a new technique, or training equipment, or new golf clubs would cure all his swing errors? Might he write something like this:
“Not that I have already reached the perfect swing, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of a great new golf technique. Brothers and sisters who golf, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting my old clubs and reaching forward to the latest and greatest expensive new set, I pursue as my goal the prize of the perfect round of golf.”
Nah, Paul wouldn’t be so gullible. According to the many promises on YouTube videos, everyone should be able to qualify for the PGA after watching, “The only lesson you will ever need!”!
There are serious points amidst this silliness:
1. Always buying the next best thing to cure your ills is shifting the blame from yourself.
2. Continually spending money for a few extra yards is taking away our ability to help the needy.
3. Forever trying to find the perfect form can be taking priorities away from working on our spiritual form.
Here’s what Paul really wrote,
“Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” (CSB’17 Philippians 3:12-14)
Then Paul adds this warning,
“Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you.” (CSB’17 Philippians 3:15)
If you golf or any hobby, and especially if you are a preacher, don’t spend more time searching for that better round, than searching for lost souls or growing spiritually. We all know Paul wouldn’t.
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