Reading: A high school baseball player in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania stood 6 feet, 3 inches and weighed 195 pounds. At the time, he played first base and was entering his senior season with no significant college scholarship offers. He stumbled upon an opportunity to be scouted for the MLB Draft — a day he had been hoping for his whole life, from the time he picked up a bat and a ball. His scouting report read as follows: 

“Lacks knowledge of first base.” 

“Does not know how to shift.” 

“Slow from plate when making contact.” 

“A long way to come with overall ability, but worth a selection for some potential.” 

MLB Scouts always rate players ability on a number scale, 2-8, with 2 being poor and 8 being outstanding. To give you some perspective, this player’s best skill was his power, which was given a “4” for “below average”. 

The day of the 1988 MLB Draft came with this player hoping to hear his name called. It had been a dream he had dreamt over and over again. Round after round went by without a single phone call. Finally, the 62nd round came, and he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. To provide some reference, the 62nd round doesn’t even exist any longer, as there are now only 20 rounds in the MLB draft.

There is little expectation when drafted in the 62nd round, understandably, but this player actually made it to the major leagues! Not only did he make it, but he even had a decent career. His career batting average was .308, he hit 427 career homeruns, and he was a 12 time all-star. In 2016, he was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. His name is Mike Piazza. 

That scout may have not been on his game in judging the future of Mike Piazza, but we are all pretty bad at it - not at seeing baseball talent per-se, but judging people for their sins and actions.

The thing happening in this scripture today might be foreign to some of you – and rightly so. It’s a weird topic. Some people in Peter’s day “blasphemed the glorious ones,” or in other terms, cursed heavenly beings. They pronounced judgement on them, which you might think is an odd thing to do. But why are these people doing this? They may have understood scripture like Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Our battle is a spiritual one much more than a physical one, and they were tired of it. But did they know what they were doing? Peter didn’t think so.

So that we don’t fall into the same trap as the people Peter was talking about (with our peers more than likely instead of celestial beings), we need to humble ourselves. We may be given an opportunity to judge someone in our place of authority, but much more often, it’s probably better to say, “The Lord rebuke you” than to pronounce a mistaken judgement on someone else – whoever it is. In our incorrect judgement of that person, we could be caught in our own judgement from God in the near future, and even eating our own words like Mike Piazza’s pre-MLB scout! 

Yes, it takes faith to “let things go”, but when we do, our faith in God’s ultimate judgement will be counted as righteousness.

Reflection:  Has anyone ever judged you wrongly? How did it make you feel? Have you ever made a bad judgement call on someone?

Prayer Prompt: Father, thank you for your Word and the truth it holds. Thank you that you are a trustworthy judge that we can look to for all of our questions. Thank you that you are the only trustworthy judge. Lord, help me to see my inadequacies. Rid my spirit of a judging attitude and let me trust you with all these things. Let me cling to your Word and trust all that you say and promise. I recognize that you are the way, the truth, and the life. Help me to disregard the judgement of the world and only trust in you!