Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. (Ephesians 4:14-15, NLT)
You don’t have to be around the game of golf long before you meet someone who says, “Ben Hogan.” If you happen to live in Texas, the time will be shortened and the tone of voice will be more reverential.
For many, Hogan was the best ever. With 64 PGA Tour wins, including 9 professional majors, he is certainly in the conversation.
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Wouldn’t it be much easier, I wondered, if I dug it out of YouTube?
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Stories about Hogan abound, but today I want to focus on Hogan saying that he dug his swing “out of the dirt.” He believed everyone’s swing could be found in the dirt, and he was probably right.
But if you are like me and most other golfers, you are not “in the dirt” enough to find your swing.
Recently I went to the range and hit about 100 balls after playing 15 holes, and somewhere around 80 shots in I began to feel my swing.
True confession: that’s the most range practice I’ve had in 2022, and while it was rewarding, it was also a lot of work for a tired fellow who had just walked 15 holes.
Wouldn’t it be much easier, I wondered, if I dug it out of YouTube?
There are a lot of great teachers online. I know because I’ve watched many of them. I’ve learned some things and been reminded of others.
But that method of improving has more in common with Harold Hill of The Music Man (“the Think System” for learning to play an instrument) than it does with Ben Hogan.
In the same way I’ve been tempted to learn to grow Spiritually by reading the Bible and going to Links Fellowships.
All of that is good, but the dirt is where growth really happens.
Is your new backswing working? You won’t know until you are on the course and your score counts.
Is your new commitment to forgiveness and selflessness and giving working? You won’t know until you are wronged, tempted by pride, and holding a pen in your hand to write a check.
Growth requires understanding, to be sure, but it also requires time in the dirt. The joy of it is in the knowing that improvement is happening. In golf, but especially in being more like Jesus, that is a very good thing.
Get out there and dig.
Prayer: Father, we really do want to be more mature Christians. We want to grow. Give us the desire to get into the dirt and test our faith, strengthening it for your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen