One of the most delightful things to watch on television lately has been Ted Lasso. It’s a show on Apple Plus TV so it does require a subscription to watch (ugh), but it is a delightful, positive and enjoyable show about an American Football coach that ends up coaching an English Premier League Soccer team even though he doesn’t know a thing about soccer. The show has excellent writing, great acting, strong characters, humor and many touching moments.
There is a scene from the first season that really sticks with me. Ted, the main character, is challenged to a dart game in the local pub. He’s challenged by his boss’s ex-husband who is very rich and quite a bully. Near the end of the game, his opponent starts to gloat, confident that he has won the game and the substantial wager that they made. Then Ted says that all his life, people have underestimated him. He never understood why that was until he saw a sign on wall that said, “BE CURIOUS, NOT JUDGMENTAL.” Ted said that the words got him thinking, “All those fellas that used to belittle me, not a single one of them was curious. They thought they had everything all figured out, so they judged everything and they judged everyone. And I realized that they underestimated me. Now, if they were curious, they would have asked questions, questions like, ‘Have you played a lot of darts, Ted?’ To which I would have answered ‘yes, sir, I have.” As he says this, he makes three perfect throws at the
dart board and wins the game to the delight and surprise of the onlooking crowd.
There is a big difference between being curious and thinking you know all you need to know. Like Ted, these days, I am hoping to “be curious, not judgmental.”
Grace and peace,
Pastor Steve