ON MAKING (AND BLOWING) JUDGMENT CALLS
Phillip Gunter
April 1, 1992
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 ...
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