Thoughts From An Umpire

This is something that I have been thinking about and has been laid on my heart since the second week of May 2007 while I was at the Central Region Little League Umpire School in Indianapolis.

I’ve been an umpire for 10 years and “hard core” the last 4 years. I’ve seen and experienced a lot in umpiring that I feel parallels the life and role of a Christian. In fact, I’ve felt such a similar comparison between the two lifestyles that I’ve had to write all my thoughts down to point out the direct relationship I’ve noticed. I’m sure the list could go on and on, but here are the main points that have hit me the hardest this year when comparing the life of an umpire to the life of being a Christian. The list that follows isn’t really any particular order, just which thoughts came to mind first.

1. Being an umpire needs to be fun. I think the same should go for being a Christian.

2. Anyone can be an umpire. Anyone can be a Christian.

3. Know your rulebook. You can never know all or too much of the baseball rules. Last time I checked, you also can’t know all or too much of the Bible. Keep studying!

4. Know ALL the rules. There is a reason every rule was written. It might not make sense now and you may never need to apply it, but know it. That concept hit me hard when thinking about Bible study. How well do I know God’s word? How well do I know those awesome verses? Verses (rules) I have read that don’t make sense now, but I have a feeling will come to light in the future. You never know when you’ll have to apply that perfect baseball rule. You also never know when you’ll have to apply that perfect verse!

5. As an umpire, I’ve definitely screwed up. Oh, and as a Christian, I’ve definitely messed up.

6. Our job as umpires is to be a great example for all umpires. We should always be trying to find new umpires and train them to be good umpires. We are to be shepherds of men, fishers of new believers, and showing others what it means and takes to be a Christian (Umpire) and follower of Christ.

7. To be a good umpire, it takes hard work, dedication, commitment, and being willing to be embarrassed or be under heavy pressure with all the attention on what you do or say (in the limelight). If you are in the faith, people with put you under a microscope. How will you react if something doesn’t go as planned and all your fireworks are floating in the lake?

8. An umpire has to wear protection or we’ll be pounded. We need the armor of God or Satan will pound us. Our Bible (“Cup”) is our most important.

9. We need to encourage and support and build each umpire up. We’re all on the same team. The guy you are umpiring with might miss a call. We need to look out for our Christian brothers and pray for them and keep them accountable. It’s not about being the best umpire (Christian) out there.

10. Some umpires have an observer rating them during games. During every “game,” God is rating EVERYONE.

11. Umpires have to continually train to get better. They have to go to camps, clinics, and meetings. If you want to get closer with God, going to church, reading the Bible, and going to Bible study are key.

12. Umpires can’t let one bad call bother them. They have to forget and move on. No one is perfect. We try to be, but we’ll screw up. We’re human. Christians also can’t get down on themselves for every sin they commit. We’re going to make mistakes. We have to forget, move on, and ask for forgiveness. We’re human.

13. An umpire’s appearance constitutes 90% of people’s perceptions before they even walk on the field. If we look sharp, we can at least look like an umpire without doing or saying anything. We can also appear to be Christians, but the outside has to match the inside.

14. Whether you are young or old, experienced or inexperienced, you are still an umpire. The same philosophy goes for the Christian walk.

15. Some umpires are better than others. Some Christians are stronger than others.

16. If you are out of position on the field, it may be tough to convince people you made the right call. If you are in the wrong crowd or environment, it may be tough to convince strangers you are a Christian.

17. It’s very hard to umpire by yourself. The more guys on the field, the easier your day becomes. Well, the more bothers you can have fighting with you, the easier your walk will be.

18. Don’t go looking for boogers. Don’t check every defensive players glove to make sure it is the legal size. Once you start doing that, people will be questioning every call you make and how you make it. Don’t look for the speck in someone else’s eye while ignoring the log in your own.

19. Before every game, umpires “pregame” with their fellow umpire how they will handle various situations. Before you start your day, you should “pregame” with God for wisdom and guidance on (unknown) various situations.

20. Umpires make tons of calls in their career. Some bad, some worse. We do tons of things before we leave this life as Christians. Some bad, some worse.

21. We all have things to work on to make ourselves better umpires. Calling the balk is always tough in baseball. We all have things to work on to make ourselves more honorable before God. Some sins are more difficult to conquer than others. Maybe smoking is a struggle. Maybe it’s alcohol. It might take lots of time and determination to overcome those pitfalls.

You can take any profession and draw these same conclusions and parallels with what the Christian walk is all about. You could be a teacher, custodian, fast-food restaurant worker, pharmacist, etc. Whatever you do, it is the same for any profession with how your job and life should parallel what it takes to be a Christian.

This is something that has really hit me more this year than any other. Sitting in that classroom at umpire school, I really began to see beyond umpiring. I feel I have a bigger job to do than just call balls and strikes. I have two great umpire friends/mentors (Doug and DJ) who have kicked my butt the last 6 years to be a better umpire. As far as I can tell, neither one of those guys has a personal relationship with Christ. What have I been doing for them the past 6 years? Do I have the same passion for being a Christian as I do for being an umpire? Do I have the same desire to lead people to Christ as Doug and DJ have for developing umpires? Do I enjoy being a Christian as much as I do being an umpire? Am I a Christian umpire, or just an umpire? Do people see the difference?

Who are you? What profession are you in?