KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Meltdown
I WATCHED SNIPPETS of the World Cup this year for the first time...
I got to see the last several minutes of the second overtime and the penalty kicks. However, the big story was not the "action" on the field, but the actions of French captain Zinedine Zidane. Commentators were talking about his unsportsmanlike conduct and unclassy response to the verbal haranguing he was getting from Italy's Marco Materazzi, his nemesis in this game. Only later did I see footage of what happened, and it was bad! Zidane went insane! He head-butted the Italian in a moment of red-card inducing rage. It had to at least factor into France's eventual loss, as he is the premier penalty kicker in soccer. It was also his last game before retirement.
It may have been uncharacteristic, but it was definitely unclassy. It demonstrated a lack of self-control and restraint. It could not have happened on a bigger "stage." It was not pretty to watch.
Yet, the same type overreactions are terribly common in our everyday lives. The victims are not usually comparable competitors, but often those we might consider inferior to us by reason of age, position, or similar condition. We may feel provoked and justified, but it will almost always come off looking just as lacking in class and taste. The Bible calls it "outbursts of anger" (2 Cor. 12:20). Elsewhere, it is called the "wrath of man" (cf. Jas. 1:20--which does not bring about God's righteousness), "railing" (1 Pet. 3:9), "rage" (Col. 3:8), and "sinful anger" (Eph. 4:26). It may be directed at our mate, children, employees, underlings, fellow drivers, friends, school mates, clerk, waitress, or the like. It never produces anything spiritually positive and the last thing it projects is Christlikeness. Without prayer and effort, it gets progressively worse. Let us all measure and monitor our response, even when we feel like we are the victim of another's meanness, incompetence, ignorance, imperfections, or inconsideration. Remember, there is a stage bigger than the World Cup. (Neal Pollard)
KneEmail: "Be angry and do no sin..." (Eph. 4:26).