Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Romans 11:33, NAS95)
I don’t know Bryson DeChambeau, who captured his first professional win on Sunday at the Web.com Tour’s DAP Championship. When he won the NCAA tournament and the U.S. Amateur in the same summer last year, though, I began to become a fan.
Then I read about him in the Links Players magazine, and I found myself completely on the bandwagon. In addition to his amazing golf and his deep love for Jesus, he lives in Clovis, California, the same place where Links Players is headquartered. How could I not be a fan?
Instead of sports and weather and the economy (especially my own!), perhaps the talk is of God’s gifts, God’s creation, and God’s provision.DeChambeau, as it turns out, is a disciple of Homer Kelley’s magnum opus, The Golfing Machine, and I confess that gave me pause, but I stayed on the wagon. I know there is geometry in golf, and physics, too. I even use the left side of my brain from time to time; but The Golfing Machine overwhelms me, and I haven’t even read it.
In the same way I have heard others hesitate when the discussion turns deep, especially regarding spiritual matters. I understand that because of the way I think about Kelley’s book. Still, it saddens me that so many people just stay on the surface.
One of my favorite aspects of Links Fellowships is the opportunity to speak with others not just superficially, but with depth. Think of life, death, relationships, sin, love, forgiveness, creation, and heaven. Those topics are available to all of us, but many people—even though they feel these things deeply—rarely give voice to that depth.
But a Links Fellowship, meeting at a club, can become the pebble that sends a ripple of depth throughout that club until it washes over many members. When it does, the conversation at the club can change from surface to substance.
How does that look? Instead of sports and weather and the economy (especially my own!), perhaps the talk is of God’s gifts, God’s creation, and God’s provision. I’m not suggesting sermons, just a comment here and there. Then let the conversation take its course. As the old church-camp song says, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.”
And if you want to go deep when golf is the topic, bring up Homer Kelley. After a few minutes on the physics of lag, most golfers will be more than happy to hear about Jesus!
—
Lewis Greer
September 13, 2016
Copyright 2016 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
OTHER DEVOTIONS IN THIS SERIES
Changing the Conversation: From What to What?
Changing the Conversation: From Gossip to Truth
Changing the Conversation: From Temporal to Eternal
Changing the Conversation: From Political to Spiritual
Changing the Conversation: From Me to Others