The MulliganSample

It’s All About Relationships

To play the course less played, you’ll need to hold on to a very important truth: It’s all about relationships. The skills and the scores of the game make for an interesting challenge, and the beauty of the environment makes for an enjoyable experience. But at the heart of this course’s design is one overarching relationship and many others that fit into it.

People who have become human doings rather than human beings will have trouble with this until they make some major adjustments. There will be huge obstacles in the way: a performance mindset that focuses on tasks rather than people; fear of getting hurt by investing too much in relationships; the pride of wanting to do things your own way for your own glory; a preoccupation with mistakes and failures that turn your attention inward; and many other insecurities and false assumptions that might redirect your energy away from the Creator of the course and the people you’re playing with. You’ll have to become vulnerable and learn to connect if you want to play the course well.

Learn to major in relationships. Reach out to people and let them reach out to you. It’s true that some people are more social than others—you don’t have to change your personality—but everyone needs a deep connection with God and strong friendships with others who know him. If you score well without enjoying fellowship along the way, you’ve missed the whole point. But if you prioritize the fellowship, you may see the “score” of your life improve and be able to relax when it doesn’t. And the course less played will become a much more rewarding experience.

1. Relationships are a key component in our lives that we often use, misuse, or ignore. In what ways have you seen yourself doing this? What are some of the relationship tendencies you would like to change?
2. In which of your relationships would you most like to receive a mulligan? Why?
3. What are some of the obstacles you face in changing the nature of your relationships? What are some steps you can take to overcome them?
4. Hug Black says, “If there has come to us the miracle of friendship, if there is a soul to which our soul has been drawn, it is surely worthwhile being loyal and true.”

In what ways do non-relational interests in life sometimes keep you from being “loyal and true” in your relationships with family members and friends?