There is a recent story in the sports news about a champion golfer who was interviewed on his 112 week winning streak (read it HERE). While the American Scottie Scheffler loves the sport and the triumphs, he also admits that he has a daily wrestle for what it all means. The constant training and competing and even winning “is not a fulfilling life.” He says: “It’s fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it’s not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart … if I win, it’s going to be awesome for two minutes … But at the end of the day, sometimes I just don’t understand the point.”
Instead, Scheffler maintains that the real value in his life is his family—the twenty-nine-year-old has a wife and a young son. “I’m blessed to be able to play golf, but if my golf ever started affecting my home life or it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or my son, that’s going to be the last day that I play out here for a living … This is not the be-all and end-all. This is not the most important thing in my life. That’s why I wrestle with, why is this so important to me? I’d much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer.”
This is wise thinking, when taken from a purely secular point of view—if the life we have in the here and now is all there is, this certainly makes good sense. It shows a healthy sense of perspective on what matters. But for us—we are not secular, we are Christians. The center of our universe is bigger than both the glory of personal achievement and the honor of familial diligence.
Another sporting legend was faced with similar challenges. Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell (1902–1945) was tipped to be a medal-winning Olympic champion, and won gold in an unexpected race in the 1937 Olympics. From a missionary family, he was challenged to seek God’s glory in mission rather than striving for sporting glory for himself. His story is worth hearing (or watching in the classic film Chariots of Fire) but here I will share his response to the challenge that his sporting glory was ultimately empty: “God made me fast, and when I run, I feel his pleasure.” Liddell prioritised the things in his life in their right order. God was first and central, and other things—including his running—were done for him. He knew that everything humans do should be for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Part of Christian discipleship is recognising truth and living it all day, every day. Moreover, part of our inviting of others to Christian faith is to call people to live a live that is not only wise in a secular sense, but wise in a theistic sense, putting God first in all things and enjoying him above all things.
*NB: after writing this pastoral passage I looked up Scottie Scheffler on Wikipedia. It turns out that Scheffler is an active and open Christian who puts God first in his life. This had no mention in the RNZ story linked above. Despite the subject matter of the interview, it appears that the (presumably secular) journalist wasn’t sure how to or whether to mention his faith as part of Scheffler’s life priorities!