And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible. (2 Timothy 1:5-7, The Message)
On Saturday, June 18, 1960, at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colorado, Arnold Palmer had just finished his third round of the U.S. Open and found himself trailing 13 other golfers and eight shots off of the lead. On the first hole, a 318-yard par-4, Palmer unleashed a powerful drive to start the final round that afternoon. His ball landed on the edge of the green, setting up a two-putt birdie. He then birdied five of the next six holes for a 30 on the front nine and shot a 35 on the back nine for a 65, which earned him his first U.S. Open title. Arnie’s approach to his final round was bold and infused with a sense of urgency.
As we engage in personal relationship evangelism, the message of urgency and boldness is a wake-up call to us to do it now—not tomorrow or next week—because it may be too late if we wait. That message hit home to me recently and reminded me that I needed to be more intentional in my evangelistic endeavors. I needed a game plan and I needed to be bolder in my actions and act with a greater sense of urgency.
When I joined the golf community where I currently play, I met an older gentleman who graciously “took me under his wing” and showed me the “ins and outs” of the golfing ethos of the club. He was a wonderful man and we connected on a number of levels. On several occasions, I tried discussing faith issues with him but was given the “brush-off.” Late last season I decided to wait for his return to the club in October to continue our discussion with a new approach.
We try to imagine the “perfect” time to engage our friends in the discussion when, in fact, we don’t need the “perfect” time.Unfortunately, a couple of weeks before he was scheduled to return to the club for the season, he died. All of us who knew him were devastated by his sudden passing and many of the guys remarked what a wonderful man he was and that he was an all-around “good guy.” I was troubled because I knew that just being a “good guy” wasn’t going to cut it when it came to his salvation. I didn’t know whether he came to know Jesus in the months between the spring and his death, but if he hadn’t, then I realized that I could have done more if only I had had a sense of urgency last spring and was willing to speak boldly to him about life in Christ.
So too it is with many of us. At times we’re too timid to start a discussion of faith in Christ with friends or family. We try to imagine the “perfect” time to engage our friends in the discussion when, in fact, we don’t need the “perfect” time—we only need a time when the Holy Spirit guides us to speak. We need to examine our personal relationship evangelism game plan to see what place “urgency and boldness” have in it. We need a new sense of urgency in sharing the gospel and a new commitment to being bold in how we share our stories and the joy and radical transformation that accompanies a new life in Christ. Adding these two elements to our game plan doesn’t call for a radical departure from our current game plan but rather simply a shift in emphasis. We need to replace our timidity with action right now—today—rather than tomorrow or next week or next month.
—
Mark “Ole” Olson
March 25, 2020
Copyright 2020 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
Photo by Roland Samuel on Unsplash