The Monday Memo

About a decade ago I wrote a one minute message about a former University of Memphis football player named Ken Irvin. The original message was about how Ken blocked four punts in a game against Arkansas, a feat ignored by the local press…my point being that sometimes we don’t get the recognition we deserve.

Even though the guy being paid to write about the game that day overlooked Ken’s record-setting performance, there were others who took note. For one, an NFL scout working for the Buffalo Bills. He noticed Ken’s play, as did other key Buffalo personnel, and they began to follow his collegiate career. Irvin was eventually selected as the Bills’ fourth round pick in the 1995 draft. He went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL, retiring in 2005.

Ken’s story reminds us of the importance of right recognition. Getting overlooked by the local paper? Annoying, but no big deal in the grand scheme of things. Getting overlooked by representatives of the NFL? A big deal indeed for the man who wants to play professionally. Given the choice of who’s paying attention, most college players would prefer the NFL scout, hands down.

In your work, you need to seek the right recognition for your efforts. It’s not from those who can only offer praise and only inflate your pride. It’s from the One whom you’ve committed yourself to serve, to honor, to glorify. He’s the one whose attention you need, his is the only recognition that matters.

The good news is that he notices what you do, even when no one else does. The prophet Azariah counseled Asa, the king of Judah: “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” (2 Chronicles 15:7)

Paul echoed these words in his letter to the Galatians. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

God is paying attention. He sees what you accomplish even when no one else does. And he will see to it that a harvest comes your way. Rather than playing for those in the stands, rather than performing to impress the press, seek to gain God’s approval in all you do.

Are you a baseball fan?

If so, you already know about Armando Galarraga’s near perfect game. You know about the bad call: The throw beat the runner. Galarraga deserves to be recognized as the 21st player in 135 years to pitch to perfection. His accomplishment deserves to be memorialized in the Hall of Fame, as all perfect games are. But it won’t be, because his perfect game was taken away with a bad call on the last out.

Instead, Galarraga will be remembered for something greater: his response to the injustice. Did you see it? Umpire James Joyce called the runner safe, and Galarraga smiled.

We know how other players might have responded. We’ve seen entire teams collapse and championships lost in the aftermath of a bad call. [St. Louis Cardinals, 1985]

But Galarraga just smiled — albeit a sardonic “you’ve got to be kidding me” smile — and then he went back to the mound and got the last out. Even after the game, he refused to lash out at the umpire’s mistake.

ACKNOWLEDGING A BAD CALL
Blown calls are a fact of life. They come at us in different ways: The boss who gives credit to the wrong guy, the teenager who blames everyone else for their own insolence, the church member who finds fault in everything the pastor does. The result is that sometimes you get short-changed. You deserve credit, but credit doesn’t come your way, thanks to someone else’s bad judgment.

It’s happened to each of us before, and it will certainly happen again. In Galarraga, we see how to respond. You don’t lash out. You don’t lose your head. You smile and go back to work. You do your job with excellence, even when you have to deal with a little unfairness along the way.

Galarraga didn’t get the perfect game he deserved. But he did show fans everywhere how a sportsman plays the game.

It reminds me of how Paul praised the believers in Thessalonica for their example in the face of suffering…

And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia…your faith has become known everywhere. (1 Thessalonians 1:7-8)

Today, you’ll have a chance to show your corner of the world how a believer responds … to setbacks, to struggles, to criticism, to conflict, to disappointment, to injustice. You don’t lash out. You don’t lose your head. You smile and keep doing your job with excellence. Others will notice.