It's amazing to me how much soccer can teach one about life.
Teamwork, check. Encouragement, check. Humility, check. Moral relativism, check.
Wait. What?
Yes. Moral relativism.
I was watching the men's team play last Tuesday. It was pouring rain--sideways. The wind was horrendous, constantly catching the ball and throwing it around with the rain. Teeth were chattering, umbrellas were nearly pointless, and everything was soggy. I was standing at the top of the bleachers with Dave as he videotaped the game for the team. The actions visible from above were so different than those visible from eye level.
The referees made several bad calls (mostly off sides) that really frustrated me. Granted, I had a much better view of the field than they did. Nonetheless, I was still annoyed that I, the yell-and-scream-even-if-you-have-no-idea-what's-happening fan that I am, still saw things when the refs didn't.
Roberts was winning 5-0 with about ten or fifteen minutes left in the game. Something happened--I'm not exactly sure what it's called--but one of our guys was tripped/tackled/inappropriately contacted by an opposing player. Whatever it was, it occurred just as the guy from our team was about to shoot. Dave told me that the offense should earn the other team's player a (red?) card, since he prevented a potential goal from being made.
With our guy on the ground and the ball out of bounds, the ref decided to call it a corner kick. I couldn't believe what the ref was doing (or not doing). Dave said, "They probably looked at the clock and decided that it didn't matter. Oh, well." I was furious. Just because our team was definitely winning the game and there were only ten minutes left on the clock, a foul didn't matter?
I didn't (and still don't) understand how soccer, of all things, could be so relative. I always thought a foul was a foul, no matter when it happened or who did it. Tuesday taught me otherwise. I am amazed at how our culture of moral relativism has seeped in to even the "fairest" things. Lying and cheating are not the only things that this relativity has invaded; it has seeped inside everything we know.
If it feels good, do it. If it makes someone feel better about themselves, lie to them. If you don't have time to do your homework because you were helping a neighbor, copy it from a friend. (Don't worry, you still did a nice thing to make up for cheating.) Seriously, friends, what are we doing?!
I'm as guilty of this as anyone...but I'm no longer going to tolerate it. And you know something? I don't care if you think that's judgmental or offensive or whatnot. Because you know what else? God doesn't give a rat's rumpus what you find offensive. He knows what's right--He created right!
As Christians (you know, little Christs), we need to stand up for absolute truth--God's Word. We will never interpret it perfectly. We will never preach it perfectly. We certainly will never live it perfectly. However, we can still put our fists down and declare that our Savior preached Truth, lived Truth, and is Truth.
God's truth is not truth that we feel or truth that can change from person to person. Instead, it is truth that is real and right and pure and that has remained for generations. It is absolute. Let's allow it to be the standard in our lives instead of our feelings and our circumstances. Everyone could benefit if we were more absolute in our judgment of right and wrong...especially the men's soccer team.
