Golfing at the Highland Park Golf Course: A Lesson on 1 Timothy 4:7-8

View from the parking lot at
Highland Park Golf Course

I do enjoy golf, but I am not good at it. In fact, “not good” might be an understatement.

You see, I almost hit a golfer at the tenth hole about a month ago while I was on the first tee at the first hole of a public golf course with a friend in Alabama (if he died, my spotless record would be ruined). And must I also mention that I lost almost all of the balls I hit that day and none of them landed in the fairway or the greens? So I didn’t have a good first day as a player on a golf course.

Obviously, I realized that I needed a lot of practice, but I owed no golf clubs. Over my break, someone gave me several golf clubs and I was eager to start practicing when I got back to Alabama. So Clayton, my roommate and fellow seminarian who is quite good at golf, and I decided to visit the Highland Park Golf Course in Birmingham this morning to hit some golf balls at the driving range. You could not pick a nicer day to do this because the weather is sunny and in the mid-50’s (which is typical for Birmingham in January/February… don’t be jealous, my Maryland folks)!

Once we arrived at the golf course, I was impressed with how nice and well-groomed it was, considering the fact that it is just outside of Birmingham. In fact, it is one of the top courses in the area and a favorite among the locals. It also has an excellent vantage view of the Birmingham skyline. I can already see myself playing there one day in the future, but I have a lot of practice to do first!

So I got right to practicing! After hitting a few balls at the driving range, I realized that I could do everything but hit a straight ball. I would “skull” the ball (hit the ball with the leading edge of the iron that propels it close to the ground dead ahead rather than upwardly), swing the club too much into the ground only to have a huge wad of grass flying in the air farther than the ball flew, and even embarrassingly miss several golf balls. In addition, I was slicing the balls so bad that several balls came perilously close to hitting the cars and houses adjacent to the golf course. If that happened at this particular club, I would be responsible for the damages incurred by my wayward ball. In fact, I was so afraid of hitting a bad ball that I refused to use my “Big Bertha” (a driver golf club) because it could easily launch a golf ball into the stratosphere, if not to the moon itself! And my day would be downrightly ruined and a big bill will be handed to me…

In spite of how I hit the ball, I did have a lot of fun today. But at the same time, I was sobered by the reality that golf is hard. Professional golfers make this game look easy with their graceful swings and by having the ball going exactly where it is supposed to go. When I was younger, I didn’t realize that golfers must regularly practice the golf game before they are even good at it. They must master the science of a golf stroke, learn how to hit the ball in poor conditions, navigate the ball across the fairway and out of sand bunkers, reading the greens accurately while putting, and using the right clubs to sink the ball in the hole.

I admire golfers who put a lot of time and effort in perfecting their game. While I think about all of this, I am reminded of what Paul exhorted Timothy to do. Paul wrote the letter to his protégé while he was in Macedonia, and Timothy was in Ephesus at that time (1:3). Timothy was placed there to guard the church from false teachers and not allow anyone to “teach different doctrine” (1:3-4). Timothy was fearful (2 Tim. 1:7) and intimidated by other people due to his youth (cf. 1 Tim. 4:12), so after Paul outlined the qualifications of overseers and deacons and what a proper conduct should be like in “the household of God” (1 Tim. 3), he exhorted Timothy to “be a good servant of Christ Jesus.” In order to be regarded as such, Timothy needed to focus on something important that could have significant implication on his ministry in Ephesus, if not only in his personal life:

“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Tim. 4:7-8).

Timothy is challenged to dedicate himself to a specific form of training, that is, toward godliness. Paul uses the term “train” with Roman athletes’ training regimen in mind. They undergo a rigorous and self-sacrificing training program with hopes of receiving accolades and laurel wreath at the end. Paul wanted Timothy to recognize here that while “bodily training” certainly has physical, mental, and emotional benefits for the trainee, he should pursue something that has the greatest value in his life: his own godliness, because “it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (4:8; cf. 1 Cor. 9:24-27).

In September 2011, I recorded in my journal something that David Platt, a pastor at The Church at Brook Hills, quoted in his sermon. Robert Murray McCheyne, a Scottish minister who lived from 1813 – 1843, said something that has frequently reminded me to pursue godliness and personal holiness, regardless of how costly it may be or how much it will require from me:

           "My people’s greatest need is my personal holiness.”

Paul exhorted Timothy to pursue a higher calling of godliness and personal holiness because that is what the church in Ephesus desperately needed. In a similar manner, we are called to pursue a life “worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Phil. 1:27) characterized by personal holiness because our churches desperately need godly (not perfect) people. We are living in a “time […] when people will not endure sound teaching” and readily accept whatever they are told, even outright lies and myths (1 Tim. 4:3). Like Timothy, we must, among other things, “guard the good deposit entrusted to us” (2 Tim. 1:13), “stand firm and hold to the traditions […] taught by us [Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy]” (2 Thess. 2:15), and “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:5). We must refuse to “be conformed to this world,” but instead be transformed by the renewal of our minds (Rom. 12:2). Our conduct and speech must remain undefiled before other people so that we may allow the light in our hearts bear witness to our testimony and good works so that other people, especially unbelievers, may glorify our Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:13-16).

So, I will be working on my golfing game while I am in seminary and I sure do hope I can hit the ball straight enough to play a round or two with other seminary colleagues and ministry friends soon. I also hope that with Clayton’s help I will eventually get better at this game. However, the ultimate focus, the very training regimen that I have committed myself toward since the day I was redeemed by Christ until the day I either depart from this earthly body or I see Jesus when he returns, will always be centered upon two aspects of my life: my personal holiness and a faithful preaching of the Scriptures. It is my prayer that my personal conduct and my task of faithful preaching will effectively proclaim the crucified Messiah who died and rose from the dead so that other people may recognize that only by the power of his precious name and blood will we be able to receive forgiveness for our sins and be reconciled with God (Acts 10:43; Rom 5:10).

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(Here are a couple of pictures from my day, in addition to a brief clip of my golf stroke when I skulled a golf ball. Please do leave comments or suggestions on how I can improve my golf stroke. By the way, it was an 8-iron.)