"How to Play Golf" (Ephesians 4:17-32)

This Disney short is one of a famous series of Goofy shorts where the whole cartoon is narrated while Goofy demonstrates how to (or usually how not to) do what is being narrated. The first of these was a short called “Goofy’s Glider.” This series is one of the more entertaining Disney produced, and avoid some of the repetitive or annoying trends of their other star’s shorts.

This particular one is appropriate for the reading of Ephesians in that it demonstrates how to practice a discipline with all the technique and rules that apply. This is what chapter four of Ephesians does for the believer. It takes the theology of the first three chapters and the picture Paul has been using—the walk—and applies it to an everyday walk. This is the discipline of Christianity.

Much like the game of golf depicted here, the Christian walk is not something everyone can do. It requires natural (or in this case supernatural) ability. The believer must rely on God’s assistance to live as God desires. At the same time, even talent requires practice, discipline, and coaching. That is what the walk is about really. Less about perfection, it is all about the attempt and the consistent habit of trying, even when we sometimes fail.