Always striving to walk
more as Jesus would want, I was trying to stay out of the Serena Williams fray
that ensued after her meltdown at the 2018 U.S. Open of Tennis. As I am a huge
tennis fan, love to watch the major events, and have never been a big fan of
Serena; it was really hard for me to stay out of this one (especially since I
witnessed the live coverage). But as the weeks have passed the ACLU types have
(predictably) blown this way out of proportion.
For those of you not in
the loop on this one, here’s what happened:
Serena Williams was
issued a violation for her coach communicating to her from the stands during
the finals match (clear violation, her coach even admitted to later). After a
point later in the match, Williams smashed her racquet on the court (clear
violation #2, results in loss of a point). Subsequently, Williams started a
running verbal tirade against the umpire, eventually calling him a thief for
taking a point away from her (yeah, you’re right, she did it to herself, but
stick with me). Her continued verbal haranguing earned her violation #3, and a
loss of game (all very clearly spelled out in the rules that a reasonably
intelligent 5 year old would probably understand.
Well, that just opened
the floodgates with Serena claiming how victimized she is/was on so many levels
it was hard to keep up. She was blubbering that she would never cheat;
she’s a mother now (so somehow no matter how outrageous her behavior, it
really can’t be that bad; she’s a mom!), yeah I don’t get it either, heck, the
jails are full of mothers; she’s always picked on because she’s a woman, black,
successful, bold, or all of the above. Of course, she’s somehow managed to
acquire a couple hundred million dollars during her “persecution”. We should
all be so persecuted.
The whole thing was too
ludicrous to comment on (even by my standards), but it just won’t go away. So
after hearing the femi-natzis, racial fire-starters, and other liberal
talking-heads running their gobs; I
either was going to vomit, or write on my blog to purge my system. The latter
seemed the more hygenic approach.
Actually, factually,
Serena Williams is a narcissistic, self-centered, crude, disingenuine person
(can you perceive that I’m not a fan?). You may fairly ask, how would I know.
Being a tennis fan for long before she was even born, I’ve always followed the
game and the big names of the game. Make no mistake, there have not been many
bigger names than Serena Williams in the world of tennis. She has posed nearly
nude in magazines, has worn suggestive t-shirts in public that draw attention
to her chest, dresses on the court with jewelry and outrageous outfits, has
threatened to shove a tennis ball down the “bleeping” throat of a lineswoman
(how ironic), has graced the cover of a magazine trumpeting her as a “badass
woman” (a mantle she obviously revels in), and generally behaves as the diva
she envisions herself to be. All of the aforementioned can be verified with a
few clicks of a mouse; draw your own conclusions. I already have, and they are
well represented by the cartoon caricature of her having a tantrum and looking
like a buffoon (which actually better represents her threatening the lineswomen
years ago, but I digress). So when the “badass woman” actually reveals her
stripes in public, how is it that everyone that celebrates that image gets
enraged when the discerning public says the emperor has no clothes? It wasn’t a
woman oppressed, or a racial incident, or any other kind of Sharpton/Hillary
alchemy. She received what she deserved for letting her guard down and
displaying her true colors.
The irony is heightened
by her victimizing the young Japanese tennis player who is half Haitian. Her
juvenile behavior detracted from what should have been nothing less than a
glorious moment for Naomi Osaka; the poor girl was in tears because of Serena’s
shenanigans. Pure and simple, and oh so common. Serena Williams is glad to act
the engaging, humble super-star when things are going her way. When they don’t,
the mask falls and you get the ego-centric hypocrite that she is.
Biblically (and I realize
that Williams has never claimed to be a Christian; Jehovah Witness at one
time), her behavior is antithetical to how a person should act (let alone, a
woman). Starting with the fruits of the Spirit, and just moving through the
Text, will demonstrate how far off the mark she is. She is just a microcosm of
how women have been “masculinized” in our society. Probably culminating with
female UFC fighters. Oh, how Katherine Marshall would cringe.
Throughout this public
ordeal, Williams has claimed she was treated differently than others
(particularly male tennis players). She would claim that others did worse than
her, and suffered lesser, or no, reprisals. This is such a ridiculous approach
as many situations are subjective. Some umpires have thicker skins than others
and every situation has to be viewed in its entire context. It’s akin to
telling the policeman who pulls you over for speeding: “well a lot of other
people are speeding, and you didn’t pull them over.” That doesn’t change the
fact that you were, and you got caught. She acted a fool, and thankfully, the
referee had the guts to call her on it.
In the same way, we as
Believers can’t run around comparing our behavior relative to others. We are
responsible to God’s standards. We know what is expected of us and any failure
here is on us.
As the face of tennis
for thousands of fans, Serena Williams is responsible for acting accordingly.
To whom much is given, much is expected. And there haven’t been many who have
been given more than her in this temporal world. Shame on her.
Hopefully she will respond to the drawing of the Holy Spirit and accept what Jesus did on the Cross for her. Then she can give credit publicly to the One who bestowed so many blessings on her. As noted in Chariots of Fire, it’s good to have a “muscular Christian”. I, for one, would love to have her on our team.
