Big week in golf! I don’t know why, but I love Masters Week. It goes beyond the fact that I love golf. Here are a few thoughts:
- It started with a man and his vision for a course and a tournament. Bobby Jones, his love for the game of golf and his desire for a special place and event put into motion what has become known as The Masters.
- There is an aura around the tournament that is a result of a set standard of excellence.
- The leadership of the Masters decided to develop a “culture” independent of anything else in the golf world.
- There is a vigilant commitment to retaining the sanctity and tradition surrounding the event.
- The atmosphere and the environment is respected and honored. Commercialism stops at the gates! There is no compromising the resistance to corporate commercialism. I love the $1.50 egg salad sandwiches and the other reasonable prices for food.
- The course is beautiful and the tournament takes place in the perfect time of the year to show off the Georgia Azaleas. It is my perfect metaphor for heaven.
- It is an exclusive number of players that are invited and while it is not the “current” strongest field of the year, it is special how The Masters holds its legends in high regard.
The leadership, vision, standard of excellence, and the execution utilized to pull off The Masters is richly full of life and ministry lessons that apply to a myriad of settings.
What do you think can be learned from The Masters and its rich environment and atmosphere?
Dude I went for the first time on Monday. My goal for the last couple of years was to go to every major in golf. I went to PGA championship last year in OK and to Eastlake (not a major but really cool). Nothing compared to walking into the HOLY of HOLIES on Monday. Wow. What a great experience. The players (some Legends) felt larger than life. The Coarse was breathtakingly gorgeous. The atmosphere was oooozing with anticipation. I was absolutely blown away. I left thinking wow I am ready to see HEAVEN. I also left thinking about the church and its health worldwide. I could not help but to think about the culture we create around our ministries and how that affects the church as a whole. What if we all focused on what was really important for the church? What if we truly built our ministries around the Legend (JESUS). What if we built a culture of intense followers that would be willing to pay whatever price necessary to see and experience the greatest LEGEND ever to live. JESUS.