We are currently right in the middle of the Winter Olympics. I don’t know how excited you get about the Olympics, but we really enjoy them at our house. We are probably bigger fans of the Summer Olympics, most likely because we can relate to or understand those events better, but we enjoy watching it all.
As I was watching the events over the past few days, I started thinking about how critical I was being of the athletes and how stupid that was. Thinking things like, “I can’t believe she didn’t stick that landing.” But then quickly realizing she was just thrown 11 feet in the air, spun several times, and tried to land one-footed on a slim, sharp piece of metal.”
Or, “Oh he went too wide on that turn and it’ll cost him 2 tenths of a second…while he was traveling 70 miles per hour down a steep, snow-covered hill, on two wooden sticks trying to weave in out of plastic poles sticking out of the ground.”
And “Man, she won’t medal because she didn’t keep her line around that curve…while going 60+ miles per hour headfirst down a steep, ice-covered track with several sharp turns, riding on a little plastic sled.”
I was struck by the ridiculousness of the things that I was thinking. The problem was that my perspective was off. I was watching the most elite athletes in the world competing against each other, while listening to former elite athletes critique the events. Every athlete has dedicated their entire lives to growing and improving their abilities to be able to compete on the global stage, and I had just turned on the TV 10 minutes ago.
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “When everyone is special, no one is.” When every athlete is elite, we lose perspective on how truly gifted these people are. At some point in each of the events, I would like them to put an average-past-his-prime-athlete out there to compete in the event so that we could truly understand the athleticism that we are witnessing.
How often are we guilty of this same type of thinking in our everyday life? How often are we overly critical of judgmental of someone else based solely on our perspective of the situation? We have to stop and ask ourselves: Do we have all the facts? Do we know how this person’s past might affect how they are acting now? Are they a believer? If not, are they simply acting as we’d expect an unbeliever to act? How would I respond if I were in their situation?
Some of the only things that we have in common with all people is our imperfection and struggle with sin due to the Fall, and the opportunity for redemption through the grace of Jesus. I pray that the Lord would help us to view our circumstances, and the circumstances of others through that perspective. Let us not rely on our own experience and perspective, but may we seek the Lord and his help to see things as they truly are.
Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. - Proverbs 3:7
-Kendall
As I was watching the events over the past few days, I started thinking about how critical I was being of the athletes and how stupid that was. Thinking things like, “I can’t believe she didn’t stick that landing.” But then quickly realizing she was just thrown 11 feet in the air, spun several times, and tried to land one-footed on a slim, sharp piece of metal.”
Or, “Oh he went too wide on that turn and it’ll cost him 2 tenths of a second…while he was traveling 70 miles per hour down a steep, snow-covered hill, on two wooden sticks trying to weave in out of plastic poles sticking out of the ground.”
And “Man, she won’t medal because she didn’t keep her line around that curve…while going 60+ miles per hour headfirst down a steep, ice-covered track with several sharp turns, riding on a little plastic sled.”
I was struck by the ridiculousness of the things that I was thinking. The problem was that my perspective was off. I was watching the most elite athletes in the world competing against each other, while listening to former elite athletes critique the events. Every athlete has dedicated their entire lives to growing and improving their abilities to be able to compete on the global stage, and I had just turned on the TV 10 minutes ago.
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “When everyone is special, no one is.” When every athlete is elite, we lose perspective on how truly gifted these people are. At some point in each of the events, I would like them to put an average-past-his-prime-athlete out there to compete in the event so that we could truly understand the athleticism that we are witnessing.
How often are we guilty of this same type of thinking in our everyday life? How often are we overly critical of judgmental of someone else based solely on our perspective of the situation? We have to stop and ask ourselves: Do we have all the facts? Do we know how this person’s past might affect how they are acting now? Are they a believer? If not, are they simply acting as we’d expect an unbeliever to act? How would I respond if I were in their situation?
Some of the only things that we have in common with all people is our imperfection and struggle with sin due to the Fall, and the opportunity for redemption through the grace of Jesus. I pray that the Lord would help us to view our circumstances, and the circumstances of others through that perspective. Let us not rely on our own experience and perspective, but may we seek the Lord and his help to see things as they truly are.
Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. - Proverbs 3:7
-Kendall
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