There’s an old saying in golf, “Drive for show, putt for dough.” Let me explain, just in case you don’t understand the sport. The objective of golf is to play 18 holes in as few strokes as possible. In competition, the lowest score wins. A stroke is a stroke in golf, meaning there are no bonuses for long drives or any other impressive shots you might make during a round. “Your scorecard doesn’t know the difference,” golfers like to say.
The crack of a ball when hit with a fierce swing can literally turn heads on a golf course. It is often followed by, “Did you see that? Wow!” But what good is a 300-yard drive if that same player struggles to get the ball into the 4.25” hole? Remarkable drives are fun to watch, but they do not win tournaments or the prize money that goes with them. Statistically speaking, it’s the short game that differentiates players over the course of a round of golf.
A golfer doesn’t become good at the sport until they manage to score low. Strictly speaking, considering the objective of the game, good fruit is a scorecard with a low score. Score cards are dumb, remember? They don’t know the difference between long or short shots; they only record the truth about the overall quality of your game, as objectively measured by your final score.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
- 2 Timothy 4:7-8
When the Bible was written, golf wasn’t even invented yet. Even so, the lesson here is captured in holy writ. Instead of drives and putts, God’s Word uses trees to illustrate the value of good fruit and the hypocrisy of merely looking good.
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
- Mark 11:12-14
From a distance, the fig tree looked promising. I suppose this is the case when you’re on a golf course and you see a person hit an impressive drive. You might say, “Oh, they’re obviously good.” However, you don’t really know until the round is over and you see their scorecard up close. Likewise, when Jesus approached the fig tree, He discovered that it was all show and had yielded no fruit. So, He cursed it for its hypocrisy.
While it’s a very good thing to look the part of a true Christian, it’s hypocritical if you have no godly fruit in your life. While you might be impressive “off the tee,” you aren’t succeeding at the game, itself. If you’re satisfied with this type of play, this can only mean one thing – you’re a hypocrite. Jesus despised hypocrites!
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
- Matthew 6:1
We are called to “win” at this game called life. It’s never enough to simply look the part. It’s even worse to suppose you’re winning when you’re failing to reach God’s standard for victory (Matthew 6:22-23). As is the case with golf, every round is different. Some rounds come easy; others are hard fought. A single shot doesn’t dictate the outcome. No matter what, it’s the scorecard that reveals the truth. There’s so much more to the game of golf than a single shot.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
- 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
We are to play this game to win. Winning is not merely looking impressive; heck, if that were winning, Jesus would’ve complimented the Pharisees, not rebuked them.
Let me drive this point home now, in a very practical way…
If you were a fig tree, your greatest fruit would be love. Love wins. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8).
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
- 1 John 4:20-21
You aren’t putting the ball in the hole, you aren’t scoring well, and you aren’t winning if you aren’t loving. “For each tree is known by its own fruit” (Luke 6:44). To proclaim love but never bear any fruit after it means that you’re all show – you may hit impressive “drives” with your speech, but you never “putt” the ball into the hole to ensure that love secures a victory. That’s hypocrisy in a nutshell.
When you hit a spectacular drive, rejoice, for that’s a good thing that may indeed attract the attention of everyone on the course, even unbelievers. But don’t leave it at that. Play every shot as if it were just as important as any other. That’s how the scorecard sees it. God, too.
Drive for show, putt for dough.
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins
