July 19, 2017

92, 92, 88, 100.

Preseason Test Results

My new officiating group does things a little differently than I'm used to. For starters, they begin meeting in May. Another thing they do is send out preseason tests. The above numbers are my test scores for the first four tests we've been given.

My friend Jane saw those scores and said, “So you're not perfect, but you're consistently good.”

That not only sums up officiating (we're not perfect, but we're consistently good), but it's also a good way to look at our life.

Do we always to the right thing as individuals, as business people, as parents, as children? The answer, of course, is, “No.” We make mistakes. We get angry. We may sometimes act unethically. We may be more selfish than we should. We are not perfect; but if we look back over our life, have we been consistently good?

This can also apply to our life in the church and as disciples of Christ. Do we pray regularly, or only on Sundays or when facing trouble? Do we make Sunday worship a priority in our lives? Do we follow through on our pledges of time, talent, and treasure? Do we work to live into our baptismal vows of loving God, loving neighbor, and respecting the dignity of every human being? Again the answer to how well we do these things is probably, “Not as well as I would like.”

The good news is that we are not asked to be perfect. We are not asked to be mistake free, but we are asked to learn something from each mistake. We are not asked to always be the nice guy or gal, but we are asked to respect the dignity of every human being. We are not asked to be in attendance at every worship service the church offers, but we are asked to make worship a priority.

Some days we score a 92. Some days we only score an 88. Some days go right and we manage to score a 100. But it's important to remember that it's not necessarily the scores that matter, it's whether or not we are working to improve. Are you better today than yesterday? Is the sum total of our life more positive than negative?

What areas of your life would you like to improve? What areas of your life would you like to make a priority? And how do those things mesh with our baptismal covenant?

Because in the end, we aren't asked to be perfect, but we are asked to be consistently good.

Blessings,