A Tradition Unlike Any Other
I have a lot of friends who enjoy the game of golf. I am happy for them, but I am not a big fan. I discovered a long time ago that I could get frustrated without spending time and money trying to do something that could not even remotely be described as playing golf.
I do know enough about the sport, though, to recognize that there is a tournament that takes place at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia each spring during the first full week of April. The Masters Tournament has a long history and is considered to be one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world. As you may know, those who promote The Masters use the following slogan: “A Tradition Unlike Any Other.”
As I understand it, there are even what could be called traditions within the tradition. Even a person like me who knows very little about golf knows that the winner of that tournament receives a green jacket. I also know that the course is known for its beauty and that a certain part of the course is known as “Amen Corner.” (I’m not sure what that means, but I’ve heard the phrase.)
Shortly after this year’s tournament was completed and Rory Mcllroy was awarded the green jacket, I was reading about a unique (and apparently fairly recent) tradition. There are no cell phones allowed on the course.
After I learned about that policy, I started reading some reports about it and even watched a television news report online about it. According to what I read and watched, there are “phone banks” available for people who feel that they really need to make a call, but the phones in these “banks” are what some refer to now as “landlines.”
I thought that the television report about these phone banks was particularly interesting because one seven-year-old boy described the experience of using one of the phones. It almost seemed as though he was describing something from ancient history when he said that the phone had a long cord and that you couldn’t see the person with whom you were talking. He said that what he was using was “not at all like a normal phone.” (just one of many reminders I keep getting about how old I am)
What I found most interesting was a common thread that ran through the reports I read or saw. Various sources reported that there was a real similarity between both the purpose of the prohibition of cell phones and the result of that prohibition. That similarity was that the entire experience of this prestigious tournament was enhanced. The positive results which were reported included things like more personal interaction, a greater appreciation of the natural surroundings, and a general sense of making the entire experience more meaningful.
The barber who cuts my hair is, unlike me, a huge fan of golf and loves to play the game himself. When I mentioned what I had learned about the “no cell phone policy” to him, he told me that the officials are very serious about its enforcement. According to him, if a cell phone “goes off’ or is found on an individual, that person is immediately escorted to the gate.
Have you figured out yet where I am going with this? If not, let me help you out a little.
Golf courses are not the only places where people assemble who at least claim to share a common interest. On a regular basis, assemblies take place in facilities which are designed to assist people in their worship of God.
Sadly, in some of those assemblies, there will be those who will be checking their emails, texts, the latest posts on social media, and/or just playing some sort of mindless game on a cell phone or tablet. All of this (and more) could and does happen when people are doing what these people must consider to be such “trivial things” as addressing God in prayer, hearing His word proclaimed, and singing songs like “Jesus is All the World to Me.”
Is it just me, or is there something wrong here? Why would people willingly give up their cell phones to watch a golf tournament, but balk at any suggestion about not having them “in hand” and using them during a worship assembly?
Before somebody “goes there,” I understand that some people use their phones as their Bibles. At the same time, I am not so naive as to believe that everybody who has a cell phone out during a worship service is using it for that purpose. If you think that is the case, I would invite you to talk to the guys in “the crow’s nest” where I worship and let them tell you about some of the things they have told me that they see from their vantage point or you could just ask me what I’ve seen from the pulpit while I was trying to preach.
Some traditions may have a very small beginning. The “seventh inning stretch” in baseball, for example, began when one person was tired of sitting and decided to stand and stretch between the top half and bottom half of the seventh inning at one baseball game. Admittedly, that one person happened to be the president of our nation at the time, but he was still only one person. His action influenced others to also stand as a demonstration of respect. As the saying goes, the rest is history. The “seventh inning stretch” is now almost as much a part of the game as the game itself.
Let me suggest something that you might be able to start all by yourself or join with others in implementing where you worship. Maybe you and some others could set the example of separating yourselves from your phones long enough to truly worship.
Maybe your congregation would be known as a people with…
A TRADITION UNLIKE ANY OTHER.
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
