And we urge you, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. (1 Thessalonians 5:14, NIV)
You don’t need me to tell you this, but here goes: Not every golfer is Tiger Woods.
By now we all know the story. When he was just two years old, Tiger appeared on The Mike Douglas Show, wielding a golf club like most kids his age might unload a fistful of Cheerios. He had become good at a skill most golfers can’t demonstrate as fully grown adults, with the same balance and free-flowing confidence we have seen from him time after time in capturing six consecutive U.S. Juniors and Amateurs followed by 14 professional majors.
When it came to golf, Tiger Woods had little need to be patient. It was the anticipation-crazy press and a broadening host of golf fans who had to hold on while Tiger waited to turn pro. But once he did, he didn’t keep them waiting long to show all that he was capable of.
Tiger Woods—and some other notables like Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy—are often best labeled, in terms of their athletic development, as prodigies. This is a nice word we give to someone we might otherwise be tempted to call a freak. Prodigies are unusual, one in many million.
Even though we recognize the rare occurrence of precocious performers in other contexts, we often make the mistake among believers in Jesus of expecting most everyone to be “all grown up” by sometime late this afternoon. We want to see evidence of character change, biblical understanding, and God-honoring choices the moment a friend first says yes to Jesus.
It’s hard to determine where this notion comes from. Certainly, we know that the Holy Spirit can work wonders in a person’s life in short order. The apostle Paul went from persecutor of Christians to a witness to Christ literally overnight. This much was evident. At the same time, we read that he spent 17 years in teaching what the Lord had shown him before he began to unite with other leaders in the early church and work with them as mature brothers and sisters are called to do.
This is a good reminder to us that God orchestrates variable rates of growth in our lives. We will not all demonstrate spiritual maturity in the same areas or with the same degree of depth as others. Part of this has to do with the variety of giftings (see 1 Corinthians 12), but much of it has to do with God’s keeping us each humble, looking for us to be dependent on him for our growth.
Meanwhile, as we go through this lifelong process, we also find ourselves dependent on our brothers and sisters to offer us warning, encouragement, help, and patience, each in accord with how we are growing in Christ. The young will need much of all of these (with a large measure of mercy!), while those older in the faith can be exhorted more strongly to “get going.”
In this way, both the younger—who need much assistance—and the older—who should be demonstrating great responsibility—keep growing as they should, becoming increasingly rooted in Christ.
—
Jeff Hopper
December 9, 2013
Copyright 2013 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.