ACE #207: A Sore Loser

A few years back, I was definitely a Boston Celtics fan.  After all, former UK Wildcat Rajon Rondo was on the team as well as Ray Allen.  My husband and I watched a game with our nephew once and he said, “I like Kevin Garnett.”  So I unconsciously, I suppose, started actually paying attention to KG and tried to figure out why our nephew liked him so much.  He was a good player...I guess.  However, I wasn't really fascinated with him.  Yet it was something about Ray Allen that stood out to me. I couldn't put my finger on it for a long time.

As time passed, Ray Allen was traded to the Miami Heat. I began to notice his precision, his consistency, and his calmness. When he faced his old team, the Boston Celtics, for the first match up between the teams after his trade, he went over to the Celtics’ bench and shook his old coach’s hand and a few of the players' hands as well.  When he tried to show the same consideration to KG, he was not met with graciousness.  The teammates had now become “enemies”.  The difference is, Ray Allen did what God has instructed us to do, which is to bless our “enemies”.  He extended himself, didn't get a good response, shook it off, and kept it moving. 

Last night, Ray Allen showed that he was a clutch player once again.  I finally realized what it was about him that set him apart...he always remained humble after a victory...or a defeat.  Also, last night, those same old feelings I had about Kevin Garnett resurfaced.  When his team was beat out by the Heat, he went to the locker room without shaking hands with the opposing team once again.  He was a “sore loser”. 

The message today is three-fold.  First of all, as parents, we need to stop looking for people outside of our homes to be the role models for our children.  I would never want my kid to follow the example I saw from Kevin Garnett.  As a child, I was taught that after a game you shake the hands or extend a high five and “good game” to the opposing team members.  It’s called “good sportsmanship.”  We have to be willing to call our kids out when they exhibit ungodly behavior.  The next thing, we have to be careful to guard our reputations by the behaviors we reveal in a public forum.  Somebody is always watching us and ready to turn our testimonies into lies.  Cooler heads actually do prevail.  Finally, when we show humility, God sees fit to show us favor…even in clutch moments.

Philippians 2:3-4

New International Version (NIV)

³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Photo by elmwood-church.org

Ray Allen:  http://theafterchurchexperience.blogspot.com/2013/12/ace-91-jesus-is-clutch.html