Drivers and Putters
The other day I was thinking about my 14 year old step son Grant. He is a great kid who is very detail oriented. He is a real problem solver and loves to help people. It’s amazing to me how much I identified with him from the first time I met him. He can sometimes have a hard time starting projects, but once he’s rolling there is no stopping him and he is a strong finisher. One day I was overhearing a conversation between him and his mom (my wife Beth). She is wired differently in that she is a strong starter. She is very motivated and determined in the beginning, but has a hard time completing projects. She wants to move on and start something new. In this particular conversation, she was pushing him to get motivated about starting a homework assignment. Partly because of his personality and partly due to him being 14, he was resisting her assertions. I recalled many of my own transactions as a boy with my own father discussing practicing the piano. Regardless of the fact that I had a natural aptitude for music, I absolutely HATED to practice. If it were up to me, I would have quit long before I became the musician that I am today. My dad, in a loving way, pushed me to do the things I had to do in order to achieve success. After many years, his principals finally took hold. As I was observing Grant and his mom, God gave me a revelation.
I never was much into the game of Golf, although my dad did take me out to play as a child. Having been legally blind since birth, I found it hard to remain interested in a game involving a ball that I couldn’t see much past three feet. I remember taking the driver, whacking the ball as hard as I could, hearing something like a fading whisper as the ball traveled away and saying to my dad “Um… Now what?”. “Well, it looks like you hit it into the trees.” I remember being much more interested in the electric powered golf cart than the game itself. “Can I drive it dad?” He smiled and said “Sure.”
While the game of golf is difficult to master, the premise of golf at its core is eloquently simple. It involves a ball, a hole, and a bag full of clubs in which you hit or tap the ball. The goal is to get the ball in the hole with as few strokes as possible using the appropriate club. In the bag you have different types of clubs, but the two of significance for this story (yes, this is a story – work with me) is the driver and the putter. The driver is your first line of defence. He has one purpose and one purpose only. Knock the ball as hard as he can in the right direction to put it as close to the green as possible. Once he has served his purpose and the ball makes its way to the green, he starts to get bored. He starts thinking about the next hole. Along the way other clubs are used and now the ball is finally on the green. Now everyone turns to look at the putter who until now hasn’t been taken very seriously, and rightfully so. He was playing UNO with the sand wedge not really paying attention to the game. The driver blurts out “You’re up Tappy.” Now he and the putter don’t always get along very well. He sometimes sees the putter as being a little wimpy and the putter thinks the driver can be arrogant and pushy. But now, not even the driver can deny the putter’s value. As the putter approaches the ball, his purpose comes into sharp clarity. He knows exactly what to do and knows that he is the one for the job. After taking what seemed like an eternity to the driver, the putter smoothly taps the ball into the hole. Everyone served their purpose and now the ball is exactly where it is supposed to be. As the putter makes his way back to the bag, the driver says “I gotta admit Tappy, that was a great shot.” “Thanks,” he says and realizes for the first time as the words come out his mouth, “If it had not been for you and the others, I would never been able to make it.”. Both of them exchange a nod and a new found respect for each other. The putter looks in the direction of the next hole and says “Alright Woody, it’s all you now. Knock it on.”
In many ways, we are like these 2 clubs. Some of us are drivers. We like to start things with as big a bang as possible. Drivers are always looking for new challenges and the bigger the better. They drive themselves and others. They also tend to lose steam the closer they get to the finish line. They want to start something new. Some of us are like putters, looking at the details that increase and become more necessary as projects develop. A putter’s ability to see a project through intensifies the closer they get to the finish line. It is this attention to detail that can cause a putter to fell overwhelmed at the beginning and be reluctant to start a job. Could you imagine a putter doing a driver’s job? That would be overwhelming for anyone. And sure, a driver could tap the ball into the hole, but more than likely would over shoot because of its size and mass.
The truth is, both are necessary in order to effectively achieve the goal. So why did God make some of us like putters, while others like drivers? I believe it is because of His desire to build relationships and community. While many fight for independence, it would seem that God designed us specifically to depend and rely on others and Him first to achieve our goals. Otherwise, it would make sense for each of us to have all the essentials to do it on our own. It is amazing to me how God set up His Kingdom in such a way that we are naturally compelled to build relationships and communities to not only achieve our goals, but also to be filled emotionally and spiritually. This model also points us away from ourselves and teaches us to value each other and ultimately glorify God.
Not only are we like the clubs, we are also like the ball. Sometimes in life we need a good whack, while other times we need to be tapped. Drivers and putters are both essential in the big picture. If you are a putter by nature you may easily embrace the gentle precision of the tap, but at times you also need a good swift kick in the rear. I would love to inspire and challenge you to embrace the drivers in your life. They are gifts from God specifically for you. You need them, they WILL get you on the green if you let them. And for you drivers out there, the detailed nature of the putter might be nerve racking sometimes, but they can serve you very well and bring your visions to life if you let them. The bottom line is, we need each other. God made each of us different. We all fit together, and when we work together we can achieve great things.