In the closing seconds of an NBA game, the home team is trailing by three points. One of its players shoots the last shot of the game from near the threepoint stripe. Whoosh! The buzzer sounds!
But is it two points or three? The referee nearest the player calls it a two-point shot; the home team loses by one point, and the hometown fans leave disgruntled. Their biased eyes saw a three-point shot.
Later in his hotel room, the referee studies the ESPN slow-motion replay of his call. He (and everyone else) can plainly see that he made a mistake and cost a team a chance to win the game in overtime.
He broods over the mistake and the unfairness of seeing it broadcast for public review. He finds little comfort in realizing that he did his best.
Such is an incident related by former NBA referee Earl Strom in his book, Calling the Shots: My Five Decades in the NBA. As I read his account, I realized his dilemma extends beyond the ranks of referees; it is also endemic to my profession, pastoral ministry, in at least three ways.
Judgment calls abound
Sometimes the issues we face are clear and distinct, but more often we are forced to make judgment calls: Do we enter a building program? Do we L need a sanctuary or a multi-purpose facility? How L often should I preach on stewardship? Should teens be allowed to “pair-off” at church activities? Do I marry those who were previously married or those who are now “living in sin”? I want to apply grace, but where does it become “cheap grace”?
I once drew criticism for using the Lord’s Prayer
T every week in our worship service. Through a third [ person I was accused of being “too Catholic.” I wanted to say to my unseen critic, “Where did the Catholics get the Lord’s Prayer?” But then a single
< mother of a young child told me excitedly that her t daughter had learned the Lord’s Prayer from being j in our services.
Seldom are my big calls unanimously received or supported. And disapproval disturbs me, especially when the disapproving ones are people I care about.
We’ll make mistakes
to i Like referees, regardless of our diligence and sincerity, we will make errors of judgment. Both the
referee and the pastor are human beings asked to make quick decisions. Once in awhile we’re simply going to blow a call.
One of my seminary professors taught that typically pastors will have a 10-percent disapproval rating from their congregations on any given day. Many of us feel obligated to seek 100-percent approval. So anxious are we for others’ approval, we strive for and measure ourselves against this subconscious (and unattainable) standard.
One day I realized that Jesus failed at having 100percent approval-and he never made any mistakes! Being human, I’m going to make some, so I might as well accept it.
I’ve seen people turn away from the Lord when I’ve rigidly applied biblical standards for marriage. On the other hand, I’ve sometimes applied them with more latitude only to see the marriage result in disaster anyway. Every situation and person we seek to help is unique. Like referees we’re forced to make judgment calls. And like referees, we’re bound to make our share of mistakes.
Some decisions have great consequences
If the outcome of a professional basketball game is important, how much more are the consequences of pastoral decisions. A family may be attracted to my church because of my personality, and as a result, they may become followers of Christ. Then again, others may leave the church and possibly desert the faith for the same reason: me.
Knowing this, I depend on the grace of God. Paul says that to some we will be the aroma of Christ and of life, and to others we’ll be the aroma of death. He asks, “Who is equal to such a task?” and later answers, “Not that we are competent to claim any thing for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” (2 Cor. 2, 3).
Often, as I watch a pressure-packed sporting event, I wonder how the referee feels in the face of such animosity season after season. Yet during certain moments in pastoral ministry, I think I know.
Fortunately, God knows (as do basketball fans in their better moments) that the game played without a referee becomes chaos. So with God’s call on my life, I’ll continue to make the inevitable judgment calls required of me.
-Phillip Gunter La Vista Church of the Nazarene Los Alamos, New Mexico
Copyright © 1992 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
