The Gospel of Baseball: Judge Slowly

So, the question is: Whatever possessed me to do a series of sermons with baseball illustrations? The original impetus came while reading Why Time Begins on Opening Day, by Thomas Boswell, [1] sports columnist for The Washington Post. Boswell said of baseball:

Judge slowly.

No, even more slowly than that.

Never judge a player over a unit of time shorter than a month. A game or even a week is nothing; you must see a player hot, cold and in between before you can put the whole package together. Sometimes, in the case of a proven player, a whole season is not enough time to judge, especially if there are extenuating circumstances. In ’81, Fred Lynn, traded from Boston to the Angels, batted .219 with five homers; the quick judgment was that Lynn was a Fenway Park hitter who would never be an All-Star away from it. In ’82, Lynn was healthy, made his technical adjustments at the plate and saw his stats go back close to their .300-with-power, Fenway levels.

The rush to judge is the most certain sign of a baseball outsider. (p 292)

Jesus’ words, “Judge not, lest you be judged” (Matthew 7:1) hung in the background. Indeed baseball, as a sport, does not rush to judgement about players. Many ballplayers languish in the minor leagues for years before arriving in the major leagues. Rookies are only slowly given respect—conventional wisdom is, “Wait until everyone has seen him a couple of times and then we will see how he does.”

In my first baseball sermon (“The Big Inning”) I said that one of the distinctives of baseball was its lack of a clock, and I compared this with the Biblical concept of time as an opportunity, or season, or crisis that is not governed by a timetable. There is something about being liberated from myopic timetables that tends to change our reaction to life—in this case, judgment—and I realized that baseball does illustrate much of what the Bible says about judgment, mercy, perseverance, humility, preparation, perfection, & stardom.

Matthew 7:1-5

Commentary

v1 The NIV translation of the verb tense and the sense of causality is misleading; it makes it look like each act of judgment leads directly to a future judgment. The sense of the verse (albeit not a word-for-word translation) is something more like, “The more you judge, the more you may come under judgment.”

v2 One consideration in these verses is, “Who is judging us?” God, or other people? Certainly God factors into the equation. But doesn’t the way we judge others affect how others judge us?”
The measure can be used to dole out all sorts of things. In the parallel account in Luke 6:37-42, we mete out judgment, forgiveness, and condemnation, to name a few. (Read Luke’s account. What do you pick up from Luke that you don’t get from Matthew?)

v3 “Plank” is way too small. “Beam” or “log” is more the right size (we’re talking extreme hypocrisy here).

v5 When we see clearly, our eyes have come into focus. Certainly if I went in for eye surgery, I’d be concerned if the surgeon could not see what he was doing. Likewise, aren’t we leery of people who deal with problems by shooting first and asking questions later? On the other hand, those whom we trust with our problems tend to be patient & kind, and slow to action. How do you tend to deal with problems?

Note: If we are to never judge, v5 is a non sequitor; it doesn’t belong here. If we are not to judge, v5 should have said something like, “Hypocrite, just deal with the plank in your eye, and leave your brother to handle his speck on his own.” However, by his own words, Jesus is telling us to intercede in other’s lives—albeit with patience, humility, and gentleness.

Application

The most pagan, Biblically-illiterate person I know can quote Matthew 7:1. In society, and for many Christians, this verse means "Never judge—not ever!" While I’m loathe to say that Jesus’ words do not mean what they appear to say, if Jesus really meant, "Never judge," what is the point of v2-5? Why go on about how we judge if we are not to judge at all? [2] John Calvin says of v1, "These words of Christ do not contain an absolute prohibition from judging, but are intended to cure a disease, which appears to be natural to us all."

What is the disease we tend to evidence when we judge?

Judge for Yourself ... Many places in the New Testament appears to invite us to judge—albeit responsibly—e.g.:

Luke 7:43 Jesus praises a Pharisee for making a correct moral judgment.
Luke 12:57 Jesus exhorts the crowd to use spiritual discernment/judgment
1 Corinthians 5:12-6:5 Paul urges the Corinthians to judge (and settle) internal disputes.
1 Corinthians 10:15 Paul urges the Corinthians to judge the significance of communion.
1 Corinthians 11:13 Paul urges Corinthians to make judgments (decisions) regarding propriety in worship.

Based on these verses, when should we judge?

We tend to rush to judgment, and when we judge, we tend to pile judgment upon judgment and insist on seeing the judgment through to its consummation.

What would happen if we judged slowly?

As a husband, parent, child, boss, and pastor, my experience is that people learn (and change, based on what they have learned) best when they are not in a environment of criticism. Many times we can know exactly what needs to change in someone else, but for the sake of the other, we must try to let them come to judgment on their own.

Points to Ponder

Are there times when we should rush to judgment (e.g. mercy)? Can we overdo mercy by being too merciful too quickly?

In baseball, conventional wisdom is that the average hitter needs 3,000 at bats in the minor leagues before being ready for major league pitching. Few players—even stars—go directly to the major leagues without spending time in the minors. What if your favorite star was judged quickly and never had the chance to practice in the minors? What lesson can you take away from this?

My suggestion for this week: Instead of just offering up criticism, ask the person, "So, how do you think that is working out?" If the person does not see what’s happening as a problem, they are probably not ready for criticism. If they express dissatisfaction, wait for them to ask something like, "What do you think I should do?" If they never ask, any judgment on your part will probably not be appreciated. (And even if they ask, please try to be constructive! Give a compliment before offering up a criticism!)

End Notes

1 - Boswell is perhaps most famous for his list of 99 reasons why baseball is better than football: http://baseball-almanac.com/legendary/libvf100.shtml .

2 - Hyperbole (exaggeration for effect) is a characteristic Semitic way of speaking which is commonly used in the Bible. Hyperbole gives arise to much confusion when we try to interpret certain passages literally. For example, when Jesus says, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26) that’s hyperbole, not a command to despise your family!

Similarly, in Matthew 7:3-5, one could never actually have a plank in one’s eye; it’s exaggeration for effect. Jesus is describing how we botch judgments. v1 ("don’t judge") is the gateway into this whole hyperbolic illustration. Jesus, in effect, says, "You miss the big picture so badly when you judge, you’d be better off not judging at all, and I’ll tell you why ..." Eugene Peterson’s translation in The Message conveys this sense very well.