My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2-3, NIV)
When is your buddy trip not a buddy trip? Matt Ginella might have the answer.
Ginella, you may know, is a golf travel writer and reporter. You’ve possibly seen him on Golf Channel’s The Morning Drive. If you have, you’ve probably had to check your jealousy, because the man has the job we’d all like. His expense report includes places like Pebble Beach, Streamsong, and Puntacana.
A couple weekends ago, Ginella’s destination was Bandon Dunes. His itinerary included a flight from San Francisco to tiny North Bend, which is the nearest airport to even tinier Bandon, Oregon. But here’s the thing: Most everyone flying to North Bend travels with golf clubs, and on this day United had a problem. There was too much weight on the plane. They needed five people to choose a different option.
Every local church, big or small, can be criticized. But when we let that be our only view of church, we’re missing the whole idea.This is a big ask, you know, seeking resort-geeked golfers who will give up a day of their trip and travel tomorrow. So, as airlines do, United started offering vouchers. Five hundred dollars. A thousand dollars. The number kept going up. But when the number got to $5,000—no kidding!—the incentive was too great. Ginella and his two traveling companions took the offer, even though it would mean a 471-mile, nine-hour drive up the windy coastal highways of California and Oregon.
Now here’s the real beauty of it. Two more guys took the offer—golfers, by evidence of their Linksoul attire. And those two guys plus the first three made five guys in a van driving through the night to reach their promised land. Strangers united by a common love.
Are you hearing echoes of the church yet? I hope so.
A lot of people confuse church with the church. They get to thinking about a local congregation where the preacher goes too long, often talks of money, and lets his teenage son lead worship—from the drums. Every local church, big or small, can be criticized. But when we let that be our only view of church, we’re missing the whole idea.
The church—that is, the universal congregation of those whose belief rests in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior—is in many ways a countless batch of strangers united by a common love. Walk into a church, find yourself a place to sit, and the person there next to you could very well be part of the church. They may not look like you, work like you, eat like you, keep house like you, watch or read what you do, vote like you, or recreate where you do, but they know and love Jesus. They are, in every spiritual sense of the word, traveling like you, moving from this temporary home to one that will last, “a better country, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16). These are the people whose company we must relish, our brothers and sisters in Christ—dare we say it, “buddies” with the same eternal destination.
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Jeff Hopper
April 8, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.