Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mark 12:17, ESV)
Within Links Players we purposely keep politics out of the discussions in our Fellowships. That’s a good thing, because we aren’t a political organization, we are a ministry. No party affiliation will save you, no candidate can redeem you, and no earthly justice or judge can deliver the ultimate sentence.
It may or may not be true that a national election result won’t matter in 100 years, as some claim, but it is true that making Jesus your King will matter forever.I confess that I do use some political statements on the golf course. I also confessed this fact in my book, Getting To Scratch, so I suppose the cat is out of the bag anyway.
In fact, I did it in my last round when my friend hit a high, hard, hook that cleared the trees, the fence, and the first row of houses. I said, “That’s farther left than Nancy Pelosi.” Later in the round our other playing partner hit one almost that far the other way, and I said, “There’s a shot only the Tea Party could love.” At least I’m a non-partisan needler.
But when the conversation in a Fellowship or even in the club is about politics (club politics included), my goal—and increasingly the goal of those in Fellowships in other clubs—is to change it to spiritual. No one ever did that better than Jesus.
You are probably familiar with his brilliant answer, quoted above, but you may not remember the question: “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”
Only Mark in his Gospel repeated the question at the end, but even without that pointed repetition the goal was to put Jesus between a political rock and a popular hard place. Either a yes or a no answer would have the desired effect. Jesus pushed both “possible” answers aside, and he did so by reminding them that God was and is in the true answer.
It may or may not be true that a national election result won’t matter in 100 years, as some claim, but it is true that making Jesus your King will matter forever. So let’s change the conversation to that.
And to avoid political commentary on the course, keep your drives in the fairway.
—
Lewis Greer
September 19, 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 Surface to Substance
Changing the Conversation: From Me to Others