As a kid back in the 70’s, one of my favorite Saturday afternoon activities was watching ABC’s Wide World of Sports with my dad.
The show’s opening scene, accompanied by an olympic style fanfare and a collection of sport clips, was unforgettable. For years, I could lip sync to the golden voice of Jim McKay without missing a syllable:
Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport… the thrill of victory… and the agony of defeat… the human drama of athletic competition… This is ABC’s Wide World of Sports!
One of my favorite parts of the program was a feature entitled, “You Make the Call.”
A commentator set the scene and then showed a clip of a too-close-to-call play from an epic game. The viewer was then invited to choose from a list of possible rulings by the referees. Finally, the commentator would return (after a commercial break) to share the actual result.
Even at 9 or 10 years old, I loved to debate the possible rulings with my dad. It usually went something like this:
Me: That’s easy, dad. It’s 1st and 10, Packers.
Dad: Son, this is synchronized swimming.
All joking aside, it dawned on me later how chaotic it would be if the fans in the stands actually DID “Make the Call.”
Frazzled Referee: Ok, who thinks it’s 1st and 10 Packers? Raise your hand!
God is the umpire. He makes the call.
“For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.” 1 Corinthians 4:4-5 (NIV)
But why should God ALONE be the judge?
Because humans stink at it! We don’t know what God knows, and that means there’s always at least ONE thing about someone else’s situation that hasn’t been brought to light.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke about loving our enemies and not judging others. As you probably already know, here’s how He made the call:
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37 (NIV)
One of my favorite descriptions of the word dogmatism is, “to make the uncertain certain.” For the narrow-minded inquisitor there’s no middle ground; one either agrees with them (100%) or one does not.
But where does such intolerance lead? It leads to judging, condemning and not forgiving.
And that’s why God is the umpire. He makes the call.
“Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. ” Romans 14:13 (MSG)
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
Davids Daily Dose 
Comments
34 responses to “Making the Call”
Thank you for your concern and prayers, Ruth. My wife and I are fine, but are troubled by the recent events at the US Capitol. Thank you for your prayers! Blessings.
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Hi, David, how are you? I’m aware of being concerned about you with all the dreadful events in America at present. Are you and your family okay? With love from Ruth XXXXXXX.
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You are always welcome there!
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The sting of being unfairly judged often lingers. You’re right. Others don’t have the final say, only God does. I’m headed over to The Clean Good Life right now for some more good advice. 😇
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It’s true, only God can judge me. Though many people try, they do not have the final say. Good advice for the next time someone makes a negative judgement call on you!
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Yes, He is. Thank you for reading and commenting! Blessings.
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And He is a fair umpire at that.
Powerful post! 🙏
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I like your story, Pete! When God calls them, they are. I too am thankful that through Christ the strike zone is covered.
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Great post Dave. Here’s my rambling reply learned from a college professor. 3 umpires are discussing calling balls and strikes. Umpire 1 says. “I call them as I see them.” The 2nd one turns and says ” Oh I call them as they are.” Umpire number three simply smiles and replies, “Hey guys; when I call them – they are!”
I’m so glad that when God sees my many strikes in life He calls them with grace!
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Thank you. I appreciate your reading and commenting. God’s best to you.
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Great post! I love that definition of dogmatism- ” to make the uncertain certain”. I wish we all can take Paul’s advice and tolerate one another on the non-essentials of the faith, rather than demanding total conformity on all issues, before accepting one another in Christ. God bless you for sharing!
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Me too! Blessings.
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All I can say is I’m glad that God is the judge!!!
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Thank you, Angie. It is gratifying to hear from someone such as yourself who sees the results of premature judgment every day.
I appreciate your thoughts. Blessings.
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David you are so right. We Totally stink at judgment. So many times we want to make judgments based on our perception of things without knowing the big picture. I see that often when working with abuse children and the adults in their lives want to label them without knowing the walk they have been on. I really enjoyed this post
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Often, I think I know everything about a person; actually, I know just a tiny bit of that person’s life–just the part that’s on display to me. There is so much of a person that no one else knows about, even a spouse, or a parent. Only God knows the whole story.
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Thank you for your comment, wayocross. Yes, I believe the Supreme Court once ruled that slaves were to be counted as 2/3 of a person. I’ll take my judgment from God.
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Best two lines were “But why should God ALONE be the judge?
Because humans stink at it!” We need to forward this post to the Supreme Court. I’m thankful for my wife, accountability partners, and my pastor who keep me straight.
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Agreed. 2020 has felt like being in the waiting room of a trauma center. I’ve been there—listening to people talk with family members on the phone about their loved one’s condition. I left thinking, “Man, some of these folks have it way worse than me!” THAT’s the only kind of judging I care to make—counting my blessings while praying for those less fortunate.
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There are a lot more people in the same boat since going through 2020. More reason not to judge. Between knowing what they have gone through because we have gone through the same thing and not knowing what else they have had to go through – absolutely no room to judge.
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Amen, sister. We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, but it’s His seat, not someone else’s. That’s a daunting thought, but also a comforting one, as you said. Thank you for stopping by today! Blessings.
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I am so grateful that God is the final decision maker in my life. There is tremendous relief and such deep love because Jesus has forgiven me and He first loved me!
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Thank you, Maria! Blessings to you always, as well.
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What a wonderfully written post discussing the grand mystery that is always God’s plan for us. We can so easily get irritated by others at times until we can stand back and accept we each have our own journey here to learn from and live by. Staying in my heart space is what allows me to shine love and kindness, forgiveness to others but mostly for myself when I feel judgements mounting. Blessings to you always David🙏
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“Our Father God calls the right shot at the right time.” That’s so true! Thanks for your comment, brother. I’m glad there is something similar in 🏴 Scotland. I was concerned about mentioning something that was probably only here in the 🇺🇸 USA. Blessings.
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We had a similar sports show in the UK on saturday called “The World of Sport” hosted by Dickie Davis, a real charismatic character. This show had photo stills from footie matches with the ball missing and would invite viewers to place an ‘x’ where the ball might be in the action…I always got it wrong. On a more serious note we are truly blessed daily that our Father God calls the shots, the right shot at the right time…always. Thank you for this devotion, God bless you brother.
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There it is!
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How true, brother BG! We need to look at the world through the eyes of Jesus.
For instance, He refused to condemn people the religious leaders of His day thought were “sinners.”
Instead, He ate with such people and invited them into His Kingdom. Yes, they changed their ways, but it was the love and forgiveness of Christ that compelled them.
For some reason your link didn’t publish with the comment. Sorry about that. I will check my settings.
Thank you for your thoughts today, brother. You always take the discussion deeper! Blessings.
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Looking at the world through the eyes of Jesus! Help me see my fellow man after this manner! We get so blind sided when it comes to our own failures or our family members failures. We can sometimes judge anyone else. I try not to! I want a heart of compassion. The song by Tauren Wells says it best!
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Oh, the lessons that God teaches us when we are attentive to the work of other believers. I look forward to growing together in the blogiverse!
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The Sermon on the Mount is one of my favorite passages of scripture. And now, thanks to you, I know about all the connections to the book of Isaiah!
Isaiah must have been one of Christs’ favorite books. He quoted from it so much!
Thanks for reading and commenting, Barb. Blessings.
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I also loved watching “Wide World of Sports”. I love how you tied it to the Sermon on the Mount”.
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I hear you, CG. It’s so easy to get caught up in the emotion of the game and not realize what we don’t know. God sees the whole parade. You and I are just sitting on the street somewhere. God’s best to you.
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Oh how I like to argue with the ref., especially when the call doesn’t go my way. Great analogy. It reminds me of those plays where they show the replay from different angles and you finally see what the ref saw. God sees things we don’t.
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