Byron Nelson

From "Grant Me This" by Grant Boone, Special to PGA.Com

...

Byron Nelson wasn't randomly respectable, not generically good. He was a follower of Christ, and his discipleship dictated his decency, demeanor, decision-making, and the way he dealt with people.

Nelson and my uncle, Pat Boone, are probably the two most recognizable names to ever come from the Churches of Christ, a technically autonomous but distinct body of Christ-followers concentrated primarily from tip to buckle along the Bible belt of the southern United States. This fellowship began in the first half of the 1800s as an attempt to strike a blow against sectarianism, even adopting the mantra, ?Christians only, not the only Christians.?

Though many through the years lost sight of that original vision of unity -- as so often happens when second and succeeding generations venerate the traditions of a group instead of the One the group set out to follow -- Nelson was not among them. He knew his Bible, mind you, and he believed strongly in what he believed. His theology wasn't casual, nor was he unafraid to lovingly share why he was convinced that salvation was found through Christ alone, why the Bible could be trusted, and why it wasn't just for the next life that we have hope.

But Nelson never brandished his faith as a weapon, choosing instead to extend an empty and open hand in friendship to all comers. And did they ever come. Wherever the debate over which golfer is the best of all time ends, Byron Nelson was the game's finest man, hands down.

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