Steph Curry Did What???

After an uncharacteristic outburst of frustration, the unanimous 2016 NBA MVP had to watch the closing moments of the Finals game 6 from the locker room. In a quick series of events, Steph Curry received his sixth personal foul, a technical foul, and was subsequently ejected from the game for throwing his chewed up mouth piece into the stands. It was the first time all season he had fouled out of a game, and the first ejection of his entire career. The Warriors went on to lose the game, meaning there will be a winner-take-all game 7 on Sunday night in Oakland.

So what happened? What caused this fun loving fan favorite to lose his cool? While Curry isn't one to shove his faith in your face, you usually don't see him throwing things or directing four letter words at the officials, either.

What happened is simple: He got angry. He was angry at the ref for calling a foul. He was probably angry that his team was losing, and had been for the entire game, by as much as 24 at one point. If he knew about it, he might have been angry that his wife and other family members weren't let into the arena until less than 10 minutes prior to tip-off.

How am I, as a believer and a Steph Curry fan, supposed to digest the less than Christ-like actions he displayed on national television? I want to be frustrated with him. I want to write him off as another star athlete who talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk. But I know that's not right, that's not the answer.

What I know is that he's a sinner, but so am I. I've been angry before. I've thrown things before. I've cussed before. I just didn't do it in front of a nationally televised audience during the NBA Finals.

But to God, the time and place doesn't matter. What he did and what I have done is exactly the same in His eyes. Yet because NBA superstars are constantly viewed under a microscope, I'm sure he will be scrutinized. I'm sure people will call him out and question his motives and wonder how a professing Christian could act in such a way. That's really unfortunate for Steph, because if some bench player no one knows about had done the same exact thing, or acted even worse, there probably wouldn't be that much conversation and I probably wouldn't be writing this.

We have to remember that, even though he often times looks like a machine on the basketball court, Stephen Curry is a human being. His flesh and Spirit do battle just as much as mine and yours. The only difference is that when my flesh wins out, only a handful of people know. But when Steph loses it for fifteen seconds at the end of a hard fought game, the whole world knows.

So instead of getting mad at him, I'll try to continue doing what I did in the commercial break just before his episode: pray for him. I didn't pray for him to make a shot or for his team to win the game. Knowing how I would want to act in his situation (he was frustrated after having a layup blocked by James, only to be stared down and mouthed at afterwards), I prayed that God would allow him to stay calm and exhibit Christ-like behavior for the rest of the game. While that didn't happen, I will continue to pray for him and trust that he will do better next time. I will not let this one incident define Steph in my mind. After all, how much trouble would I be in if God defined me by one outburst of anger?

Faithfulness in a Fallen World

Let me begin by asking you a quick question. Would you consider any of these places to be a Christian environment?

·      Your workplace

·      Your child’s school

·      Your local Wal-Mart

·      Your local fitness gym

·      Your local movie theater

Sure, there are Christian businesses, Christian schools, and even Christian movies. But when we take a second to look around us, wherever we may be, it is easy to see that we live in a fallen world. We sin. Others around us sin. We let each other down. Most of all, we let God down.

But as believers, we are called to faithfully follow our Savior in the midst of this fallen world. So how do we do that? Let’s think about the story of Daniel and his three friends and find a few pointers…

According to Daniel 1:3-4, Daniel was a young Jewish man from a royal family. His life was turned upside down when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon laid siege to Jerusalem and led Daniel and many others into exile. In Babylon, he and several others were chosen by the one of the king’s officials to be taught the Babylonian language and literature. Basically, they wanted to convert these young men. They wanted to steal their allegiance away from the Lord and turn it to the king.

How would Daniel and his three friends react in this foreign land, surrounded by these powerful people? Would they change their allegiance, or would they remain faithful to their God?

The first test they faced concerned the food they ate. The Babylonians tried to feed them royal food from the king’s table, but Daniel would not accept it because it was in violation of Old Testament dietary laws. Instead, he requested that they be fed vegetables and water, which of course made them healthier than the others.

The second test they faced concerned the first and second commandments: not having any other gods and not worshipping idols. When King Nebuchadnezzar made a towering gold statue and commanded everyone to bow down and worship it, Daniel’s three friends refused. As a result, they were thrown into a furnace heated seven times hotter than normal. But as you know, the Lord protected them and they survived.

We read about another test Daniel faced in chapter 6. By this time he had interpreted many of the king’s dreams, had been made one of three administrators over the country, and was very well-known. But because of his success and popularity with the king, Daniel’s co-workers despised him and they devised a plan to trap him. Knowing that Daniel prayed to God often, they convinced King Darius to sign an edict stating that anyone who prays to any god or man besides the king would be thrown into the lions’ den. But did that stop Daniel from praying to God? No way! He continued to pray three times a day, just as he had done before. And when he was thrown into the lions’ den, God shut the lions’ mouths and protected him.

So what can we learn from Daniel and his friends?

1. It is possible to remain faithful. This doesn’t mean it’s always easy, but it is possible.

2. We can be in the world, but not of it. Daniel and his friends were immersed in the Babylonian culture, including the worship of idols. They lived with the people and worked with the people, but did not give in to the sinful ways of the people.

3. God blesses us when we are faithful. Daniel 1:21 tells us that Daniel served in the king’s court “until the first year of King Cyrus.” Cyrus was a Persian king, which means that by being faithful to God, Daniel outlived the Babylonian empire! God blessed Daniel with wisdom, insight, and a long, fruitful life.

I’m sure that at times Daniel and his friends found it challenging to remain faithful. But they didn’t let the world around them dictate who they were and what they did. As we live in this fallen world, you and I must follow suit. Instead of letting the world around us change us, we need to let God and His Word change us.

Let me leave you with some instruction from 1 John 2:15-17. “Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.”