Football. Baseball. Soccer. Volleyball. Cross Country. The ParaOlympics in Rio. That's just naming a few. While some sports are similar, others are quite different. What they all have in common is some kind of officiating. Someone is overseeing the competition to ensure the rules are followed, and enforce penalties if they are not.
In many sports, the officials work as a team. Some have officials off the field, or even off-site, to watch video replays of questionable situations. It's interesting to watch when the officials get together to discuss a particular event. You know they don't agree all the time, and can imagine the conversations. "I saw number 4 do this." "No, it was 14." "No, he didn't do anything. I had the right angle to see."
Eventually, they come to a consensus, or the head official makes the call. Do they always get it right? I'll let the real sport's fans make that call. I do believe, in the vast majority of cases, they do the best they can to be fair and right. They watch the game and call 'em as they see 'em.
We have people watching us, too.
Like it or not, we're being watched more than we might realize. Police officers patrol the roads to make sure we follows traffic laws. TSA officials enforce rules at the airport. The IRS scrutinizes our tax returns. Our bosses watch what we do at work. Teachers check our work at school. The list goes on and on. Without rules, and people to enforce them, we'd have anarchy, and despite the misguided beliefs of a few "wingers" on the right and left, anarchy is bad.
There are still other people watching us, those being in a less official capacity. The gossip who keeps track of everything in the community. The critic who wants nothing more than to see someone step out of line. The nit-picker. The self-appointed social media monitor. The holier-than-thou. The know it all. That list goes on and on as well.
Everything we do, from what we wear to what we eat, what time we get up and go to bed, where we go and who we're with, is scrutinized and judged. Someone decides, based on what they see and what they believe, if we're right, or we're wrong. They also call 'em as they see 'em. But are they right?
Be careful who makes the calls in your life.
When it comes to those in official capacities, we are instructed by the Bible to respect and submit to their authority (Romans 13). There are exceptions, such as when their demands contradict God's, but otherwise we are to honor and respect them for the position God has placed them in.
When it comes to those others, though, those in self-appointed roles of "observe and protect," we must be careful. Some truly have our best interests in mind, others simply do not. Either way, they're not the ones to whom we should defer for decisions on how we live. For that matter, neither is any government or system. Ultimately, the one who makes the calls in our life should be God.
God is the final, and only true judge. He is the one, and the only one, who clearly and completely sees all. Through His word, His teachings, and His speaking to us in various ways, He tells us what we are to do, and not to do. It is to His "officiating" that we should, and one day will, ultimately defer. God has the final say. He is the head official.
The next time you're not sure about a call, whether you've done something or should do something according to what is right and wrong, ask God. He doesn't need instant replay. He doesn't require an official review. He won't confer with anyone else to get their opinion. He knows, without question. After all, He's the one who made the rules in the first place.
Who better to decide if you stepped out of bounds, or made it in the end zone?
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