Are you trying to make the 10-foot putt or just avoiding the three-putt? Hey friends, my name is Mark, and welcome to another episode of Shanktification. We're going to find out why the mindset of risk growing versus preventing failure really matters, not in golf, but in life as well. I remember getting paired up with a guy at the golf course one day that I didn't know, but we hit it off. He was fine. He was a good dude. He was a beginner golfer and not a very good putter. And there was one hole where he hit a really good approach shot, and the ball was in the middle of the green, and he had a downhill birdie putt of about 25 feet or so. And he gets up to the green, he parks his cart, walks around the back of his bag, grabs his putter, thinks for about a second, and then grabs his wedge and takes both of them to the green. And I'll look at him with a quizzical look, and he looks back at me and he shrugs his shoulders and he just says, just in case. Now that story still makes me giggle every time I think about it, but then I have to step back and think, well, I'm not the greatest putter in the world either. In fact, us amateurs leave about 70% of our putt short. As to where pros, on the other hand, only leave about 30% of their putt short. And if you look at chip shots, if you look at bunker shots, it's all the same thing. And then when you get to approach shots, it's the biggest discrepancy. And I wonder, is that subconscious or is that deliberate? Is it a fear of embarrassment? Because golf exposes your mindset instantly. You don't accidentally grow in golf. You either step into it or you shrink back from it. But how does that work in life? In the book of Colossians, the Apostle Paul is writing to a church in Colossae that frankly is not doing a lot of things wrong. There's not a lot of heresy going on, there's not a lot of drama, but they're not growing. They're being stagnant. And in chapter 1, verses 9 through 12, he says, We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way, bearing fruit in every work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might have great endurance and patience. And so he doesn't pray for them to stay comfortable, he doesn't pray for them to just hold steady. And so the key idea is that the Christian life was never meant to plateau. That's not what Paul's intention of this church was. Paul isn't praying for maintenance, he's praying for a movement. Settling sounds like, I'm doing fine where I'm at, or at least I'm not as bad as I used to be, or just don't mess this up. Movement sounds like, where is God stretching me? Where do I need to change? And what would faith look like right here, right now, at this moment? I think if Paul was trying to talk to the Corinthian golfers, he would have said, settling looks like lagging it close, trying not to embarrass yourself. But movement looks like committing to the line and giving it a chance. I think we've convinced ourselves that if we're just not doing anything wrong, then we're growing. But I think that settling is just fear dressed up as wisdom. The danger of playing not to lose in the game of golf means leaving putting shorts, swinging timidly, trying to guide the ball, which never allows room for improvement. The danger in playing not to lose in faith means avoiding risk, avoiding convictions, and avoiding growth. I remember when I was young in a beginning golfer, I'd talked to my golf coach and I said, All of my lag putts are coming up way short. How do I fix that? So he took me over to the green and he dropped a handful of balls next to the hole about three feet away and he said, Just putt these balls until you can make every single one of them consistently. And I said, Well, my problem isn't three foot puts, it's lag putts. He said, Well, the reason you're leaving your lag putt short is because you're afraid to miss it three feet past the hole and not make that three-footer coming back. And I think the lesson stuck with me in that when you gain confidence in the small things, the bigger risks become a lot more comfortable. If we're not mindful of this, we can look a lot like the Colossians. We can look consistent on the outside and still be completely stagnant on the inside. So next time you're standing over a putt or in a hard conversation, or maybe you're convicted about something in your life, ask yourself, am I trying not to fail? Or am I going to choose to grow? Don't just play it safe. Don't just maintain. Don't settle for a two putt when a one putt can be had. Step into growth on and off the course. My name is Mark, and until next time, keep chasing better.