Where the Hell Are the Referees?
Where the Hell Are the Referees?
Oh wait, that’s right. I am supposed to be a referee and so are you. People of faith are called to know and enforce the rule of love. We can’t wait for the government or anyone else to do it for us. Now more than ever, the church must be on high alert. When we see a flagrant foul, we must to call it immediately and demand change. Police who lack integrity and compassion need to be ejected from their positions. If they commit a criminal act, they should be arrested and charged. If businesses discriminate against employees or customers because of race, gender, or sexual preference, they should be held accountable. These are the moral laws that support a just and functional society, but they are too easily broken.
The separation of church and state does not excuse the faithful from social activism. To the contrary, religious communities are called to uphold the rule of love for all of God's children. However, our call for justice will be muffled by hypocrisy if we don't lead by example and make amends for our complicity in systemic oppression. Following Jesus’s teachings, we need to remove the log from our eyes so that we can make right judgments. (“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” Matthew 7:5)
The church has long struggled with spiritual anemia. Too weak to passionately work for social change, we settle for tidy prayers and the proclamation of platitudes. But Jesus didn’t call disciples to be nice and safe. He called them to be loving, and love demands justice. Jesus endured hated and hostility to uphold the rule of love. We should expect no less.
Modern day disciples could learn a thing or two from referees. A referee is required to rise above the need for affirmation and personal attachments so they can call a game fairly and confidently. A referee must know all the rules and then make sure that others apply them. They don't get accolades for winning or condolences for losing. At best, they get nothing; at worst, outbursts of fury. Being a referee might just be the hardest and most important job in the arena. But who misses them?
As much as we miss professional sports these days, our hearts don’t yearn to see the officials sporting black and white stripped shirts. We miss the game. We miss the athletes. Referees, not so much. Though being a player, a coach, or a sports announcer is demanding, I would take one of those jobs over a referee's any day.
Players are part of a team and have fans to cheer them to victory. Successful coaches earn the respect of their players and sports enthusiasts. Announcers don't have to be fair. They shift their alliances and praise to the highest-scoring team. All the while, spectators can engage from the stands shouting praise for their players and peril for the referee who dares to make a call against them.
Admittedly there are incompetent, even corrupt referees. Still, the honest ones are the unsung heroes of the sports world.
Bennett Salvatore, a controversial referee who has been both highly praised and hotly condemned, says this of his profession: “The general fan doesn't understand how much we care about our job... There is no one more upset than the referee if they make a mistake. Whenever I talk to anybody, rule No. 1 is — we make mistakes. We don't want to, but we do. We try not to defend ourselves. We're not in defending mode. But rule No. 1 is that we make mistakes.”
Of course, we are human so we are bound to make mistakes. We will get it wrong, but better to make an occasional bad call than to remain silent while a teammate squeezes the breath out of a defenseless soul.
Serving as a disciple is one of the hardest jobs in the arena of life. But those who humbly accept it, engage in the highest of all callings — the messy, but essential work of divine justice and peace. In a world racked with division, chaos and cruelty, referees are sorely missed. Friends, it is time for each and every one of us to take a whistle and blow it with all our might so love can rule.
(Image: chalkboard with silver whistle on rope. Words: Jesus didn't call us to be nice. He called us to be loving. And love demands justice. Blow the whistle on corruption.)
