Country clubs and golf courses are easy to love. Both have the serene quality that separates you from…well, whatever it is that you feel you need to be separated from.
Country clubs can be quite different from a golf course. They have an air about them. A quick stop into the pro shop can cost more than a mortgage payment. The clubhouse bar may be nicer than Ruth’s Chris Steak House. You can walk into the locker room and grab a pair of sealed slippers, brush your hair with sealed combs (and nice ones at that), spray on some free deodorant and some seriously nice towels.
Country clubs are the only place on the face of the earth where it is it possible for macho men to feel accepted in pink shorts.
The settings are usually gorgeous. It’s as if one of the original pre-colony patroons selected the best that American had to offer and set them aside in each region knowing that we would need a recluse from twenty-first century stress.
There is only one thing missing. Suffering. Other than that critical missed putt on the 11th or that sliced drive that sent squirrels scurrying, the only pain at a Country Club is on the shoulder of the caddy working a double.
We all have country clubs that we build into our lives. And it is good to “get away from it all.” The problem lies when we partition our lives off from the world on a repetitive, ever-increasing and deliberate manner in order to escape what others cannot.
PORTAL TO HEAVEN: There can be an utterly deceptive beauty in country clubs in that they deviously and strategically seclude us. Can you imagine what this earth would be like if Jesus lingered endlessly in an exclusive heaven?
Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them! Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work of His hands…Those who recline on beds of ivory And sprawl on their couches, And eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall, Who improvise to the sound of the harp, And like David have composed songs for themselves, Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils, Yet they have not grieved over the ruin of Joseph…And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night [i]your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Isaiah 5:11,12 (NASB), Amos a 6:4-6 (NASB), Luke 12:19-21 (NASB)