Editor’s note: Brian Gehr is FRCS’s Director of Discipleship.
My family has had the privilege of watching a number of World Cup matches this summer, including the tightly won American victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. If you have been paying attention to the USMNT performances, you have likely experienced the uproar over the red card star striker Folarin Balogun received for what looked to be accidental contact. When the referee issued the card, the responses from USMNT players ranged from anger to outright surprise. Fan responses leaned primarily toward anger.
As the controversy made its way through the sports news cycles in the following days, one news line caught my eye. It noted that after the game, Balogun still came out and shook hands with the referees. When asked why, he stated that, “You can feel like something unjust has happened to you, but it’s not an excuse to be disrespectful or not do the right thing…After every game, I try to shake everyone’s hands. This game was no different. The most important thing for me is also to give the correct example to people watching.”
I was impressed with this for two reasons. First, Balogun seemed to react more calmly than I did to his red card. And two, he was able to keep his gaze on the big picture despite the frustrations right in front of him. However he felt about the red card, he knew the value of giving “the correct example to people watching”. Even with the prospect of missing an additional game and never playing another World Cup game on US soil clearly in front of him, Balogun remembered what was important: exhibiting good character and serving as a role model.
There is a question that I have been chewing on lately. Drawn from the writings of Alan Noble, the question goes like this, “Does my response to this situation reflect my belief in a God who is both sovereign and good?” In other words, are my words, actions, and thoughts being affected and shaped by the knowledge that I serve a God who is kind and powerful? Am I keeping the big picture in mind in the small moments of frustration and turmoil?
I have been asking myself this question mostly in the midst of the little, day-to-day challenges. For example, when I am hanging up decor for my wife and I have to drill 8 holes instead of 4 because I measured wrong twice, do my attitude and words correspond with my identity as a redeemed child of God? Or, when the work of parenting small children inevitably leaves me without adequate rest or sleep, do I choose to grumble and gripe, or rather remember the goodness of God toward my family? When I am discouraged or wronged, can I wrench my eyes off myself and turn them toward the God whose character does not change, letting that knowledge and relationship shape how I respond?
I believe that the Holy Spirit has been bringing this question to mind to convict and challenge me. Perhaps he will do the same with you. May we all grow to be the kind of people who live holy lives in all moments—both great and small.
