Like millions upon millions (or maybe even more than that), I have been watching the World Cup finals. Like I said in my last post, I'm not as knowledgeable with soccer (or football) as some of my friends are. But even I and my limited knowledge have watched games where there have been a lot of blown calls. Goals that weren't allowed that should have been, goals that were allowed that should not have been, among other various and sundry calls that were not good. Overall, it has not been a good World Cup in that regard.
FIFA, the governing body of soccer and who runs the World Cup, has been questioned again and again about these blown calls and the work of the officials throughout the tournament. Time and time again, they would reply that the officials do not have to explain themselves nor are they going to seek to improve the game via instant replay or goal line sensors or anything involving technology because it takes away from the human mistakes which makes the game what it is.
I think there are two things with which one can take away from this. One, it is a reminder that we are human and we are not perfect, as if we needed another reminder of this. We all make mistakes, we all mess up. Soccer officials are not different than anybody else and this World Cup has shown that to be the case. However, there needs to be a level of humility in that. We need to own up to when we mess up or make mistakes. I think back to the incident with Jim Joyce, the umpire who made a bad call and cost the Tigers pitcher a perfect game, he admitted he made a mistake and apologized. Fast forward to the Mali referee who made a bad call that cost the U.S. a goal in its game with Slovenia, there was no apology, no recognition of making a bad call, not even an explanation of what the call was that he made. When we mess up, we need to own up to our mistakes. The good thing is as followers of Jesus, when we own up and confess them to God, he will forgive us of them (1 John 1:9).
The second thing to take away from this is that even though we aren't perfect, we should strive for perfection. As followers of Jesus, we have been called to follow after Him and to live right and holy lives, even though we aren't perfect. Having the Holy Spirit in us helps us to do that. We don't take joy in our mistakes nor celebrate them but seek to improve and do better. Just like going to check the replay or the goal line marker to see if it was a goal or not helps to get things right, we as followers of Jesus seek to not just stay where we are but to press on to the mark that Christ has set (Philippians 3:14).
So as the World Cup continues, there will probably be more blown calls just as in any sport. But hopefully there will be improvement. And for followers of Jesus, we should seek to grow and improve in our walk with Him
No comments:
Post a Comment