Baptism on the Ninth Hole
By Greg Asimakoupoulos
April 1, 1995
After pastoring a church in California for eleven years, my wife and I sensed God's call to a congregation near Chicago. As our family prepared to move, we were showered with wonderful gifts: a painting by Thomas Kinkaide, a crystal vase, and a French Psalter from the 1600s to add to my prized collection of hymnbooks.
But the most meaningful gift arrived just a few days before I moved--an invitation to play golf with my friend Marty. Seven years earlier, after much family coercion, Marty reluctantly agreed to accompany his wife and two daughters to church. Marty had been turned off by institutional religion long before--Sunday mornings were best spent on the golf course.
I met the Koll family in the parking lot after worship had begun. They arrived late, and there I was: hiding among the cars in my Middle Eastern robe. I didn't want to spoil the effect of my first-person sermon by being seen by the congregation prematurely.
Marty's face said it all: Is that the pastor without shoes and in a bathrobe? What kind of church is this? I'd rather be golfing.
The morning's worship folder promoted the annual men's golf tournament the following Saturday. Golf was a language Marty spoke. He signed up for the outing and arrived with a sparkle in his eye. I had no idea he was a ringer.
After Marty won, the organizer of the tournament asked him if he could be in church the next day to receive the trophy. Marty complied. Whether it was the fact I wore a coat and tie and shoes that Sunday, or that Marty and his wife were warmly received by the young adult class, I'll never know. What matters is they decided to stay.
Within a few months, Marty's two elementary-school-aged daughters prayed with their Sunday school teachers to make Jesus their Lord. ...
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