“Knowing Christ is the best thing that has ever happened to me, although winning the US Open was a pretty good second.”
Loving the umpire
Loving the umpire - you can not be serious!Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Romans 13:1
What is the Christian's attitude to the officials? Is has been said that the only biblical reference to the referee or umpire is 'the man born blind'! As the Bible doesn't offer any direct application to referees, we need to look for relevant Biblical principles. Romans 13 refers primarily to political rulers but can reasonably have application to match officials, since they have been put in a place of authority over us for that game and if we are to love our neighbour as we love ourselves then it is hard to see how that can exclude the match officials.
Romans 13 is about submission to the authorities. Does this mean that Christians be players who never question the referee?
As we noted earlier, it is important to understand what love is. Loving the umpire doesn't mean saying, "Great game umpire", when she has had a poor game. Our aim is to help them be as good as they possibly can. Perhaps you would say something like, "Thanks umpire. I thought you controlled the game pretty well but could you just explain how you came to award that penalty".
Greg Linville comments 'Living at peace with officials may very well include confrontation, however. It is necessary at times to motivate officials...there are times in which an athlete and/or coach may need to lovingly motivate an official to do a better job...The aim is to love the official, love the opponent and get a fairly officiated contest.'
Gavin Peacock played professional football as a Christian for nearly fifteen years. He has encountered a few referees in his time. He is clear about where the line has to be drawn: 'I think it is OK to protest to the referee but only to the point of not disrespecting him. Football is partly a mental contest and trying to make sure that the referee is alert to anything the opposition are trying to get away with is part of that contest.'
If you feel that the officials are being intimidated (and influenced in their decisions) by the opposition players or coach, then to say so respectfully is acceptable. To try to counter-balance the intimidation is not. As team captain at the beginning of a game which you fear could develop into an aggressive physical battle, it may be helpful to encourage the referee not to be afraid to take the tough decision when it is needed.
When a decision goes against you when you feel you haven't done anything, how do you react? Obviously your judgment will be a bit biased and you have to bear that in mind at the time and afterwards when you are reflecting on it. If you show no reaction it might seem to the referee that you are accepting that you have committed a foul, deserving a penalty when really you feel you didn't. To argue about it is equally pointless for the referee will never change his mind. A respectful protest is perhaps the best response.
Remember that the officials are only human. They have good games and bad games, just like you!