Bad Umps and Protecting Your Rights

Suggested Reading:1 Corinthians 6:1-8

When my son started playing little league baseball, it wasn't long before his team lost a game. His head coach was out of town and so things were already a little rocky. On top of that, the umpire was a 15 year old kid who was uncertain of himself and listened to the opposing team’s coach (I think they were somewhat acquainted with each other) when trying to make calls.  On one particular play, our pitcher barehanded a ball on the ground and ran over to tag the runner coming home from third base. Inexplicably, the runner was called safe.  Apparently, the opposing coach convinced the ump that the pitcher tagged him with his throwing hand when the ball was in his glove. It wasn’t. But the game was pretty much lost by that point anyway and so our assistant coach did something I was rather proud of. He taught the boys to respect the umpire and his call rather than creating a scene. He presented an example of good sportsmanship.

Whether you agree with the coach’s decision or not, Paul actually urged the believers in Corinth to follow a similar line of thinking when dealing with their own legitimate complaints. Apparently, there were several disputes that had broken out between members of the church and these people had taken each other to court. Paul argued that they should find someone in the church to resolve their disputes rather than take their disputes into the secular courts and present a bad witness to the world. Naturally, not everyone would agree to that and so Paul continued, “Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you act unjustly and cheat – and you do this to believers!” (1 Corinthians 6:7, HCSB).

We live in a society that treasures the rights of the individual and I am glad that we do. We should always respect other people’s rights. But when it comes to our own rights, we should be willing to let go of them when it would advance the work of the kingdom. When that person looks you in the eye and then cuts in front of you, will your witness be greater if you confront them and demand your proper place or if you graciously allow them in and strike up a conversation? When that woman takes your Avon order (and your money) and takes six months to get your order delivered, would the greater witness be to ask what happened and then forgive her or to demand a refund because you didn't get what you paid for when you paid for it?

I am not saying that you should let people run all over you, although it sometimes looks like that. I'm talking about willingly laying down your rights, refusing to cling to what you deserve because the kingdom will grow more through your self-denial. I'm talking about, in those moments where you could legitimately demand your rights, intentionally choosing to let them go. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8, NLT).

We should always protect other people's rights but we must also be willing to let go of our own.  Just as Jesus gave up what he deserved in order to reach us, we must be willing to give up what we deserve to reach others.

Abandoning Your Rights As a Klingon

Suggested Reading: Nehemiah 5:14-19

Worf was one of the most memorable characters from Star Trek: the Next Generation. A Klingon with giant ridges on his skull, Worf was from a race of warriors who prized honor above all else. But Klingons also believed in punishing children for the sins of their fathers. When Worf discovered proof that his father had been falsely branded a traitor, he brought that proof to the Klingon High Council to clear his family name. As a result, the Council offered Worf the son of the man responsible for framing his father and a chance for his family to avenge the wrong done. Worf was given the right to kill the young boy but he refused to punish a boy who had not personally committed a crime against him.  As far as Worf was concerned, he had the right to kill the boy, but killing him would not have been right.

At the end of Nehemiah chapter 5, after Nehemiah had dealt with the nobles and officials who had been exploiting the poor, Nehemiah made an official notation that almost seems like he was tooting his own horn. Nehemiah wrote, "Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year-- twelve years-- neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor." (Nehemiah 5;14, NIV) Nehemiah went on to say that the previous governors collected a very hefty salary from the people he governed but that he  himself refused to take it, even though it meant feeding 150 officials on a daily basis as well as the occasional visiting dignitaries out of his own pocket. Nehemiah specifically stated that he refused to demand what he was due as governor because it would have hurt the people of the land. Nehemiah could have demanded a salary and reimbursement for all of his expenses because they were his right, but he chose to make the people more important than his rights.

There are many things that we believe are our rights, things that we think people owe us. Sometimes, we have a right to an apology, to an explanation, to compensation. People may owe us credit or thanks. And often, we would be well within our rights to demand those things. But sometimes, demanding our rights simply isn't right. Sometimes, we need to put people and relationships above our rights. That person who hurt you may owe you an apology, but is the apology worth more than the friendship? Jesus set aside his rights as creator of the universe and ruler of eternity in order to save the very people who had taken his gifts of life and freedom and thrown them back in his face.

Jesus refused to cling to the rights he was due as God because we were more important to him. Shouldn't we be willing to forgo some of our rights because people are more important to us?