Speak Out

According to Britannica, the “bystander effect” is the inhibiting influence of the presence of others on a person’s willingness to help someone in need. In other words, the bystander effect is when an individual is less likely to help when others are around.

Whether you are a first year official or a long-standing veteran, we’ve all been in situations where we wished someone, including you and me, would have stepped up to help the crew fix a clock error, penalty enforcement mistake, or any other issue. What does it take to step up? First let’s look at two quotes to get our minds around getting past the “bystander effect”:

 

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”—Benjamin Franklin

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.” – Plato

 

Be it on the field, at work, or at home, there can be various reasons we choose not to help even though we think, or know, we should.

·        We assume a more veteran official or senior co-worker will say something.

·        Fear that others will think we are out of line to speak up.

·        If wrong, we worry about what others will think.

 

Regardless of the reason, it’s easy in hindsight to see if someone had just stepped up to ask a question or bring forward new information, unnecessary errors on the field, conflicts with family, or headaches with a project could have been prevented. Even more frustrating is when we are back in the locker room, or after it’s too late to make changes, someone decides to tell the group they thought something was wrong? We know there are times to speak up and times to be silent.

 

What is needed to break the bystander effect? Discernment…discernment to know the difference between having something to say and having to say something.

 

And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can approve the things that are superior and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ. (Philippians 1:9-10)

Paul was speaking to the church of Phillipi to continue to grow in love for God thru knowledge and discernment.  Specifically, discernment helps us see beyond the surface; it helps us avoid being deceived and harmful situations. Discernment strengthens our ability to become gatekeepers—knowing what to let in and knowing when to speak out.

Spend an ounce of prevention to bring a pound of cure.

Devotion from Ryan Wingers (ACC Football Official)

Distractions

What is the #1 way to increase focus?  Remove distractions. So what are these distractions that compete for our attention? Well, that depends on the task in which we are trying to direct our focus. If I’m trying to get rest, my bed is not a distraction but watching TV or scrolling through social media are ones. Not all distractions are bad. Spending time with family or spouse, reading a book, job responsibilities, and household chores are not within themselves distractions. However, depending on the context of what needs to be focused on, they might be distractions. For example, if I have a project at work that needs to be completed, taking 30 minutes to finish reading a book is a distraction.

As an official, what distracts us? Off the field, we have job responsibilities, family to take care of, health issues, and travel issues. On the field, irate fans, upset coaches, people on the sideline, weather, the previous play, and other officials can and do distract us resulting in us losing focus.

John “Gucci” Foley, former Blue Angel pilot, challenges us to decrease our distractions by doing two things:

·         Concentrate into a single point of focus: this is where habits are formed (“unconscious competence”)

·         Adopt a “Glad to be Here” mindset: with a mindset of gratitude and gratefulness, focus is multiplied

Click on the following link for the more details by Foley on this topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXQNPKHarE

When life happens--frustration, anxiety, anger, multiple priorities--we get distracted. In Philippians 4: 8-9, Paul and Timothy addressed the church of Philippi and encouraged them to stay focused.  “8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” When we place focus in the right place, God provides peace, joy, and strength. All the busyness and responsibilities of life want to shake and distract us, but God says to “fix” our eyes on Him to not be shaken—to stay focused!

Feed your focus. Starve your distractions.

https://thecove.org/blog/where-is-your-focus/#:~:text=The%20Lord%20says%20that%20we,praise%2C%20think%20on%20these%20things.

Proper Gear

 

A pastor took a retreat to Alaska, and at the camp where he was staying the weather was cold and rainy every day. The pastor asked the camp director how do people deal with the gloomy, rainy weather day in and day out. The director responded, “Pastor, we don’t have bad weather, we only have bad gear.” The point the director expressed was that we can’t control the weather, but we can control our preparation and response to it.

As an official, do we bring the proper gear each game?

§  Mentally: Review prior game evaluation and make adjustments as needed and necessary both individually and as a crew. Study rules and mechanics to improve each week.

§  Physically: Keep ourselves in good physical shape with rest, recovery and continued exercise as needed. If we feel sick, do we get the appropriate help from doctors and take the medicine we need?

§  Emotionally: Removing negative thoughts, listening to music and podcasts, watching a movie or another form of relaxation, and deep breathing help to calm us the days leading up to a game. During the game, our pre-snap routine, support from other officials, forgetting the last play, and calm-breathing help to keep our emotions in balance.

§  Spiritually:  Study the Bible, listen to a sermon, read a devotion, and spend time in prayer are some of the ways to be spiritually in tune with God and properly prepared.

2 Timothy 4:2 (NIV):  Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

Paul was challenging and teaching Timothy to focus his ministry on communicating God's truth. In this verse, Paul gave Timothy specific instructions:

o   Timothy was to be ready to preach and teach “in season”—when it was convenient. These times are when Timothy (and us) should be most prepared.

o   Timothy was also to be ready when preaching and teaching was not convenient ("out of season"). The out of season times are when Timothy found speaking God’s Word was awkward, difficult to understand, or when people resisted it.

o   Timothy was to also to lead by providing correction when he or others were wrong or not living by God’s instructions and being a positive influence.

o   Timothy was to do his preaching and instruction with patience and love—not thru resistance and anger.

With the right gear, we are able to respond to “weather” with tact, discretion, and wisdom. 

What does 2 Timothy 4:2 mean? | BibleRef.com