I don’t know if Tiger Woods is a believer. But, he said something today in an interview I watched that, although it had no relation to anything spiritual, I saw an interesting correlation with our relationship with God.
I love watching The Masters golf tournament, played at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, GA. All of the world’s greatest golfers come to this beautiful, magnificent course to go after the coveted “green jacket” that each year’s champion has the privilege of wearing. Prior to today’s third round coverage, the network aired a one-hour special called “Tiger at 30″ - a look into the life of the greatest golfer on the planet, concluding with a personal interview with him.
Golf commentator David Feherty conducted the interview and asked many interesting, pointed questions. I was engrossed in the conversation, being both a fan of Tiger as well as simply interested in listening to anyone considered to be the best in the world at something.
At one point, Feherty broached the subject of Tiger’s much talked about slump a couple years ago where after he had just won a number of tournaments, he went to work on his swing and went through a drought on the tour that no one thought possible given Tiger’s dominance over the years. He went a number of years without winning a single Major championship. But Tiger said it was all purposeful. He was thinking long-term, not short term. In fact, he said that sometimes you need to get worse before you can get better. Feherty kept pressing to get at the heart of what was driving Tiger to do this - wondering what many of us were wondering… He was already the best golfer in the world - why would he need to re-tool his already dominant golf swing? Feherty asked him if he could be better and without hesitating even a millisecond, Tiger replied, “Yes.” In his response, he said that if you need to take one step backward to move forward three or four steps, its definitely worth it in the long-term.
Woods then went on to describe the process of breaking down and then rebuilding his golf swing to be more consistent and accurate in his game. His golf game got worse. His scores were higher. People began doubting. But Tiger was working on the tedious, minute aspects of his swing - elements of a golf swing that possibly no one else on the planet would ever see or notice. But as he worked, labored and practiced, Tiger began to see small, incremental improvements in his game. He said that during one round of golf, he might have one shot out of the whole round (70-72 strokes usually) where he saw the improvement. And he would focus his attention on that one great shot - not the 70 other mediocre or bad shots. Then, the next day it might be two shots out of the round that really looked good. And after a couple weeks or months, it would get to where a few holes looked great, then nine holes, then 18, then a whole week, then a month, then years and decades. But it all started with the breakdown and that first really good shot on day one. And now, Tiger is in such command of his golf swing and his overall game that he has come back to his position of dominance on the PGA tour and #1 ranking in the world. He has won 63 tournaments, including 10 Major championships in his first 10 years on the Tour - and when asked if he can better this first decade, his response was “definitely.”
When I heard those words from Tiger Woods, it reminded me of our relationship with God. It can be very easy to want to jump right over “life” to automatic spiritual maturity. But that is short-term thinking. If we are thinking about long-term spiritual growth, intimacy with the Father and maturity, we need to think not about where we are today, but where God wants us to be years, even decades from now. Like Tiger Woods’ attention to the most minute nuance of his golf swing, it is the small things - often those that go unnoticed - that truly contribute to our long-term spiritual growth and maturity. It is the time we spend in the Word where no one sees. It is the minutes and hours we spend on our knees that start to weave dependence into the fabric of our lives on a daily basis. It’s holding our tongue when we are wrongly accused or withholding that tempting bit of information that is more gossip than a prayer request. It’s responding with grace and love even when we know (and feel) our rights have been violated by someone we love. It’s that one small victory on day one that turns into two and three small “successes” in our walk that eventually leads to weeks, months, years and decades of significant spiritual growth. But it doesn’t happen overnight. And you can’t push your agenda beyond God’s sovereign timing anyway…
Philippians 2:12-13 comes to mind: [continue to] “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work within you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Working out our salvation is like the hours that Tiger spent on the practice range hitting balls, working on his game. God desires that we take special care to work on our spiritual life as well. It takes time. It takes work. It takes discipline.
But thanks be to God that verse 13 is there! It is not just our human effort that brings about the growth and maturity - but it is GOD who is at work in us - according to His pleasure. He takes pleasure in working out and fulfilling HIS purposes for us! Isn’t that an amazing truth to realize?
I’m not advocating a works-based gaining of God’s approval. I’m talking about making every detail of life - even the smallest, most seemingly insignificant thing - count in our complete surrender to and dependence on God. It’s not for the sake of instant spiritual maturity. It’s about becoming like Christ over time. Lord knows I have a long way to go at the young age of 35 - but I really look forward to experiencing the fruit of spiritual maturity, God willing, at age 70 after years and years of dependent living. And to keep the analogy of Tiger’s swing in the picture - yes, it is in the midst of breaking that we achieve the most fruitful growth. Tiger had to break down his swing and start over… We have to be broken to experience the growth that can only come from taking a step back only to take three or four forward. To God be the glory!
Thanks, Tiger. I’ll always be a bogey golfer (or worse!), but your incredible work ethic on the golf course and practice range are inspiration for me to keep getting into the Word and on my knees as often as I can. And hopefully, I’ll see small but incremental improvements in how I swing (live!) for years to come. God willing.
Fenelon Friday is back, where we drink from the very deep well of my favorite 17th century French Bishop in the Catholic Church. Francois de Salignac de La Mothe-Fenelon (born 1651) was a mentor to a number of younger men on the court of Louis XIV. In fact, he was given the responsibility of raising the young man who would proceed Louis XIV to the throne of France (the King’s grandson). Many of Fenelon’s writings are actually letters he wrote to some of these young leaders as they sought to walk the life of faith in the face of opposition and adversity. Fenelon’s teachings were met with resistance within the Catholic Church because they aligned more with Reformation teachings than with Catholic dogma at times, and his hope was that once his student became the King of France, he would be instrumental in the reformation of the Catholic Church and bring a real witness of Jesus Christ to France. Those hopes were dashed in 1712 with the premature death of the King’s grandson. Fenelon died not long after that in 1715 at the age of 63, but his teachings live on and continue to influence 300 years after he lived.
