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In the northern hemisphere, one time of year especially says new—and maybe more for golfers than any others. That time is now. Between mid-March and mid-April, several wonderful markers converge: daylight savings time, the first day of spring, Easter, and the Masters. The blooming azaleas at Augusta National remind us that we are coming out of the wintry sleep that kept us indoors and often inactive. It’s time to get out!
In getting out, the Links Fellowship where you play golf may be starting again. This year that may mean sitting down together rather than meeting by video. And even if your Fellowship has never missed a week, a marked date—just like the turning of the new year or a birthday—can help reset your focus and priorities.
With this opportunity in mind, here is a fresh look at the five “tees” of the Links Player’s personal mission and how your Fellowship might apply each one this year.
Love God and others. Following Jesus’ “Great Commandment” should be every believer’s first priority. It’s the first imperative for Links Fellowships to encourage such loving in the lives of their participants. When Atlanta area representative Josh Nelson had the Links Players logo stitched into some of his golf caps several years ago, he added the simple phrase: Love God, Love Others.
How can you emphasize this first tee in your Fellowship this year? Consider adding these two questions to the end of every week’s study: How will what I learned today help me love God better? How will it help me love others better? As Fellowship leaders, we want to help our participants move from being only hearers of God’s word to doers (James 1:22). Encouraging thinking about practical application serves that goal (and so does starting each week by asking, “How did you love God better in the past week, and how did you love others better?”).
Integrate Christ’s reign and integrity into all of life. In a recent conversation, a discouraged church leader drew two intersecting circles on the ground, like a Venn diagram. He said the circles represented the whole lives of two people in his church. The intersection was the commonality in Christ that led them to come to the church and enter Christian fellowship with one another. But various events of 2020 had put that commonality to the test, because one or both of them had assumed their circles completely overlapped—“We share Christ in common, so surely we share everything else in common.”
When they found that they didn’t share perspectives on medicine or race or politics, they abandoned their common love of Christ and split from the group. But when another church leader heard this story, he suggested that the problem really was this: the intersecting part (the Jesus part) was not functional in the non-intersecting part. A Links Player would say Christ was not reigning over every part of the person’s life. The minors were now majors and integrity was forfeited. You may have seen some of this same “2020 effect” in your Links Fellowship.
How can you emphasize this second tee in your Fellowship this year? As a leader, make a habit of checking in with your participants about their home, work, and online lives. You might arrange dinner with your spouses or meet for lunch in the middle of the work day. Then ask some caring questions about whether Christ and Scripture are providing direction in these key areas of life. Help your participants never slip into becoming only “Sunday Christians.”
Network friends together in Christ. For several years now, the Links Fellowships in Southern California have enjoyed the friendly competition of team matches. Players from different Fellowships travel to one another’s clubs to meet up and play one another. While Links Fellowships are designed for both believers and unbelievers to participate in conversation and learning, brothers and sisters in Christ are meant to support one another like family, with Christ as our head. These matches allow that to happen. Men and women can meet those in other Links Fellowships, share their stories (testimonies) with one another, and go home encouraged that other golfers are living for Christ, too.
How can you emphasize this third tee in your Fellowship this year? Arrange an intentional connection between your Fellowship and another. This can be done in a one-day arrangement or weekend retreat. Play down the competition and play up the conversation. Although we each must believe Christ in our own heart, his body is made up of codependent parts, so we are naturally and supernaturally encouraged when we talk about our faith and how God has birthed and sustained it in us. Create an opportunity for these kinds of connections by crossing over with other Fellowships.
Kindle compassion for the poor and needy. In Boston this winter, Links Fellowships provided more than 600 coats for distribution among those in need. In Southern California last fall, those playing in Links Players’ Orange County Charity Classic raised more than $125,000 for the local Rescue Mission, making it the third largest charity event in Orange County in 2020. Elsewhere in California, individual Links Fellowships raised money for club staff with urgent and ongoing financial needs. Big or small, when Links Players and Links Fellowships keep their eyes open for needs in the community, they can act compassionately and helpfully in keeping with Christ’s care for the poor and hurting.
How can you emphasize this fourth tee in your Fellowship this year? Simple: Take up a collection. Find a cause that meets a need, pool your Fellowship’s generosity, and give help. And don’t be afraid to take this beyond your group. If you find a cause that most anyone can recognize as a true need—coats in winter, for example—you can invite your whole club membership to pitch in. Many do participate and all members become aware of the presence and purpose of your Links Fellowship at the club. (If you’d like to see whether your effort can provide a tax deduction for your givers, check with your region or area director.)
Share Christ through the great game of golf. Finally, Links Players understand that the Christian faith is not a silent faith. It’s evangelical—that is, it has good news to share and it shares it. On a broader scale, this can be done through big events where guest speakers who connect well with those in the golf community talk about what Christ has given them through salvation. But we make a mistake if we only think of these kinds of events. The tours may not stop in your town and allow you to access known professional golfers for such an outreach. Still, you can invite men or women from your community to come share their testimonies with your Fellowship and guests, maybe at a couples dinner. And don’t forget that there is a purpose in playing golf with those “proud, blaspheming sinners”: the first brush with Jesus they’ll ever have might be with you!
How can you emphasize this fifth tee in your Fellowship this year? Name one week a month invitation week, where regulars in your Fellowship make an extra effort to invite unbelieving players into their foursome and maybe to your Fellowship. You might also ask regularly in your shop or with your manager about new members and reach out to invite them into your game and your Fellowship.