Spiritual Lessons from Serena's Outburst
When the Williams sisters burst onto the tennis scene a number of years ago. I loved Serena and hated Venus. I've come full circle. Her tantrum on Sunday (which I did NOT see because I was in church like you should have been!) is the perfect example of why.
In case you missed the story. Serena was in a tight match with Kim. Serena was serving to stay in the match. The score was 15-30. She missed her first serve. A line judge called a foot fault on the second serve which gave Kim two match points. Pretty ballsy call. Probably shouldn't have been made at THAT time in the match. I haven't seen the replay to see if it was a correct call. But Serena does have a history of foot faulting.
Anyway - she didn't take kindly to the call. Confronted the line judge personally. And ended up being called for a foul, which because it was the second one in the match, resulted in her loosing the next point (match point) and Kim won the match.
The Serena Williams that confronted the line judge and gave up the match because of her temper is not the same Serena that I cheered for when she first came onto the scene. That Serena was gracious and giggled a lot. She did an interview about stealing her sister Venus' clothing. She was humble. She was fun. Now she just seems full of herself.
Make no mistake, she's dominated the sport from very early in her career. Venus used to beat her in tournaments. I think it was a sibling edge, 'cause Serena was a more dominate player. She is without a doubt the best player on the women's tour (she'd beat a lot of the top men too). But now she's a bully. She's rarely gracious. I don't see the same smile. There is no humility. And maybe she doesn't need those things now, but they'd make her much more lovable. I think the problem is that now she is the best. She knows it. And she expects it.
Venus used to come across as the arrogant one. She's the one that used to pout when she lost a match. Now Venus comes across (more often than not) as gracious and humble and ... nice.
There is a spiritual lesson in this. I find that new Christians. Christians who are just discovering faith are often the most fun to be around. There is a joy. A humility. A graciousness. And then sometimes something terrible happens. We get used to it. We get comfortable with the grace God has given us. We come to expect it. To take it for granted. This doesn't always happen, but when it does we turn ugly.
Let's guard that "new" Christian attitude. Let's remember that all we have is a gift from God. That our redemption is a gift from God. That we are no better no worse than anyone else... it is only by God's grace that we are anyone. Let's do that and let's remember to extend a little grace to others too. So for me, I'm going to do that for Serena. I will no longer cheer against her. I will not make jokes at her expense. I will hope and pray the best for her. God has given her a tremendous gift. She is probably the best women's player ever. May she learn to wear it more gracefully.
