Every year as April draws near, the long awaited Masters tournament captures the attention of the world. Even if you don’t play golf or follow golf, you are very likely to be watching the best of the best competing for the iconic green jacket.
While I have yet to attend in person, I patiently wait for that opportunity.
One of the rules for spectators on Thursday through Sunday, is no cell phones.
What? No cell phones! No pictures or videos! They even have pay phones on site for you to make calls if you would like. As I watched the tournament on tv, I was aware of this and noticed how engaged and present everyone was as the players made their way from the tee box to the green. It was like stepping back in time. People were together, present with one another, engaged in conversation, and soaking up the moments taking pictures in their minds. A shared experience that they will carry with them and share with others.
I thought to myself, isn’t this how the body of Christ is meant to be? Together, engaged, present, enjoying life, celebrating with others, focused and fixed on the purposes of God? I am not saying that we aren’t doing these things, but I know for myself how distracted I can get by what’s happening on my phone. All the apps, google searches and my social feeds that interrupt my day and cause me to miss what’s happening right in front of me. I get distracted by others business that I forget to be about the Father’s business. Anybody else?
As I open my Bible and read all the stories I so wish we had real time pictures of all that happened, but we don’t. What we do have are God breathed words on the pages, written by humans, preserved forever. The individual stories represent those moments taken in and written on their hearts and now offered to us. What an incredible gift! I can do without the pictures, but not the stories. Pictures capture a moment, but stories capture so much more. It’s our stories that shape our lives. It’s our stories that impact those around us. It’s our stories that can be used by God for His redemptive purposes.
It was a history making event for the winner, Rory McIIroy, who is now counted as one of only six players to accomplish the career Grand Slam and those that were there will remember those moments not from a picture on their phone, but a memory in their hearts. They will tell stories from that experience that will maybe encourage someone to become a golf fan for the first time. While we aren’t most likely to make history, we can be most likely to share our stories of faith that point someone else to Jesus.
Don’t stop taking the pictures, but also don’t miss the opportunities right in front of you because you are distracted by a world on a device when the world around you is so much more important.
