June 2023 - ‘Have you got the eye of the Tiger !’
Growing up in Scotland I took quickly to the game of golf. A good walk spoiled? Certainly not for me it wasn’t! I relished the physical side of the game. However, I enjoyed the mental challenge of the game even more. I loved watching Tiger Woods. He was the best in the business. I was so intrigued watching him take his time over each shot with a face full of concentration thinking to himself ‘what does this shot require?’. A short punch? A neat chip? A mid iron? A power drive? You realise quickly in golf that no shot is ever the same. It’s why you have many different clubs in your bag. There’s no one size fits all when it comes to navigating your way round the course. The real skill is taking your time in wisely picking the best approach.
Some need a pat on the back! Paul mentions church leaders here. Speaking to the church as a whole he specifically mentions respecting and esteeming them in their work. Had Paul heard that this was this lacking in Thessalonica? There’s no way of knowing. But it’s not too much of a stretch to envisage that scenario. In a world that is deeply sceptical about leadership and authority, notwithstanding the checks and balances that are necessary and good to help leaders lead with integrity and zeal, the church can be refreshingly different. Godly, Christlike and servant hearted leaders are God’s gift to his church.
Some need a kick up the backside! He mentions the idle amongst them. This term carries the idea of slackness. Maybe picture the driver taking their foot of the gas as they say. Had some in the church got casual in their Christlikeness? Was there a gaping hole in their holiness? Admonish them says Paul. Remind them of the upward call in Christ and the new life he has called us to. The Lord’s return is nearer now than when we first believed!
Some need an arm round the shoulder! Then there are the fainthearted. Those for whom the soul, for various reasons, aches. The discouraged. The sad. The ‘little spirited’ as the Greek literally reads. What they need most is encouragement. To be told again how much they are loved and known by their heavenly Father. The healing balm of the free grace of a big-hearted Jesus is the tonic their soul so desperately needs.
Some need a hand up from the floor! Then there are the weak. What differentiates the fainthearted from the weak seems to be some sort of physical ailment. Those in the church family who are struggling physically. Bones ache and break. Mental health dips and wanes. Diagnoses come and go - and so often come again. The instruction is simply to help. Cook meals. Offer lifts. Do the shopping. Weed the lawn. Go and visit. Be the hands and feet of Christ. It’s one of the most endearing things about Jesus as you read about him in the gospels - the way he stoops to heal the sick!
So where are the different folks in our church family at? What’s going on in our lives right now? What approach do we need to take as we speak the gospel into each other’s lives?
Here’s the thing about my golf bag. It was filled with all sorts of different clubs. However, each club had the same name (the maker of the set) written on the grip. In the same way, whatever approach we take as we lovingly speak the truth into each other’s lives, whatever club we use, the grip is marked ‘gospel’. It is the gospel of God’s free grace to us in Christ that is the driving force of every approach. Sometimes the shepherd applies the hook to correct. At other times he applies the staff to defend. At other times he points the club to lead. The Shepherd knows us and knows where he’s taking us. We can trust his heart as we speak his word to each other.
