This past summer I began to learn the sometimes exasperating, sometimes exhilerating game of golf. I am continually working on my swing. I have not yet swung enough to have much nailed down in my muscle memory. So I have watched with interest the conversation around Tiger Wood’s swing. Last year he went after it again, dismissing his coach and getting a new one. The cost seemed high–as he fell out of number one and failed to appear at the top of tournaments. Why some may ask would a guy living at number one risk it all to improve? Why would he push out of what observers would call security? Tiger says:
“That false sense of security is part of the seduction,” Woods says in his book, “How I Play Golf.” “If we are honest with ourselves, we’ll admit never quite reaching nirvana. We are constantly on edge. There is no comfort zone in golf.”
Awesome. I can’t help but think that the Christian life is meant to be lived the same way. As a follower of Jesus I am to be making constant adjustments. Some are slight. But others may be a radical shift as a new paradigm for life is required to keep up with Jesus. To observers obedience to Jesus may seem like a loss of security. However, a false sense of security is part of the seduction of our world. Jesus said, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” And in that same conversation he said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23, 25) Following Jesus is much longer than the several hours it takes to walk 18 holes. In fact, what we are after is a long obedience in the same direction. Always with Jesus.
For more on Tiger’s swing, see this weekend’s article in the New York Times.
