This past week two very shocking, very public incidents involving have sparked a flurry of media attention and global commentary.
The first occurred on Saturday, September 12. Defending US Open tennis women’s champion, Serena Williams was called for a foot falled at a crucial point in the second set of an epic semi-final battle. After thinking about it for a moment she turned towards the linewoman who had made the call and unleashed a profanity laced tirade about how she was going to “ram the *&#$ ball down her *&$% throat.” Her actions cost her a second unsportsmanlike conduct warning, a point and ultimately the match.
The second incident occurred at the MTV Video Awards on Sunday, September 13. Nineteen year old Taylor Swift won the award for female video of the year making this young star the first country artist to ever win an MTV video award. As she was settling into her acceptance speech rap artist Kanye West came onto the stage and took the microphone from Swift and proceeded to tell everyone that Beyonce should have won the award because she had “one of the best videos of all time”. His actions spoiled the moment for the teenage award winner and have been universally condemned. Incidentally, his argument was later validated when Beyonce won the award for video of the year. Beyonce invited Swift to the stage at this point to complete her speech, but for West it was too late to take back what he had done.
These incidents got me thinking about how we as Christians often act towards those who don’t have the same beliefs as we do. They got me thinking about how we sometimes act towards each other. Like Williams and West, in our efforts to make our point we often resort to aggressive, rude or cruel tactics. We believe so much in the truth we hold to that we forget about the person on the other side of the argument. The truth of scripture is that there is something above all level of knowledge, wisdom and faith. That something reflects the essence of the God we are to reflect to each other and the world around us. That something is love. (see 1 Corinthians 13)
Serena and Kanye may have been right in the points they made. I’m not qualified to discern that. But watching them act in such a way that their reputation is perhaps irreparably harmed reminded me that being right is no excuse for being a jerk. Above all else, if we are to rightly represent the God we claim to love, we must put on love.
A personal comment to follow up this post…
This has been, and continues to be, one of the most difficult realities for me to learn in my life. While in many ways I am improving in this regard, an honest conversation with my wife will reveal that I too often spend too much energy attempting to prove the accuracy of my case failing to act with grace and love. If you resonate with the struggle identified in this post…we’re in this together!