It Was Prayer

We can sometimes really grasp that reality that we are strangers in this world, aliens who are really not of this world. Jesus prayed for us in John 17, reminding us that we are in good company:
14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

It's been said that the world is not our home, that we're "only passing through."  We can look around and recognize that, well, essentially we don't belong here.  Jesus did say, after all that we are not of the world.  Our stay here is temporary, and we will be with him in eternity.  So, recognizing that heavenly identity, we can decide not to hang too tightly on to the things of this world nor embrace its ideas. But, we can be devoted to fulfilling the mission that God has given to us, and grow in our relationship with Him each day.

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Jesus, as He taught His disciples, explored the root cause of hostility that we may encounter in this world - some are hostile, others simply don't choose to understand. Jesus taught in John 15:
18 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.

There is was - a glorious victory in the U.S. Open tennis tournament by a young lady named Coco Gauff. FoxNews.com reported that "Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2," and then, ESPN displayed a picture with a dubious caption - the article says, "the 'SportsCenter' account wrote that the tennis phenom 'took a moment to soak it all in after winning her first Grand Slam title.'

Former NFL coach and current NBC analyst Tony Dungy took aim at the verbage, stating: "I hate to break this to you SportsCenter but Coco Gauff was not ‘soaking it all in’ at this moment. She was praying. She has been very open about her Christian faith in the past. It seems pretty obvious what she is doing here..."

The Fox News article says:

Gauff spoke about her faith after winning the first Grand Slam title of her career after she was asked what it meant to her to win the title on home soil.

"Oh my goodness. It means so much to me. I feel like I’m a little bit in shock in this moment," Gauff said. "That French Open loss was a heartbreak for me. I realized God puts you through tribulations and trials. This makes this moment even more sweeter than I could imagine.

"I don’t pray for results. I just ask that I get the strength to give it my all. Whatever happens, happens. I’m so blessed in this life. I’m just thankful for this moment. I don’t have any words for it, to be honest."

She is the youngest American, male or female, to win a US Open since Serena Williams did so at age 19 in 2001. (Williams also won two years prior when she was 17.) Gauff also joins Williams and Tracy Austin as the only American teenagers to win the tournament.

For some background, the Sports Spectrum website provided some history, reporting:

Gauff broke onto the professional tennis scene in May 2018 and the age of 14, and since then she’s never shied away from talking about how important her faith in God is for her everyday life and her tennis career. As Sport and Faith reported, Gauff has done numerous interviews where she’s talked about how her faith has helped her stay humble as her fame has grown, and how she’s used her platform as an avenue to share about God.

In a 2019 interview with the New York Times, Gauff said she and her father pray before every match.

“Before every match since I was 8, my dad and I say a prayer together,” she said. “We don’t really pray about victory, just that me and my opponent stay safe. After the match, I was just thanking God for this opportunity.”

It’s no different on her social media pages, where she often talks about God...

Well, this was certainly not the first time that Dungy has shown support for the public expression of faith.  The Federalist ran a story a few months ago documenting some of these instances, including at this year's March for Life; even though Coach Dungy faced blistering comments from fellow journalists, he took to the podium and issued these words in the aftermath of Damar Hamlin's collapse on the football field:

“An unbelievable thing happened that night. A professional football game with millions of dollars of ticket money and advertising money on the line – that game was canceled. Why? Because a life was at stake, and people wanted to see that life saved,” Dungy said. “That should be encouraging to us, because that’s exactly why we’re here today because every day in this country, innocent lives are at stake. The only difference is they don’t belong to a famous athlete, and they’re not seen on national TV. But those lives are still important to God and in God’s eyes.”

The Federalist also points out:

In 2018, the former Indianapolis Colts head coach caught flak for saying on live television that then-Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles would play well in the Super Bowl “because his Christian faith would allow him to play with confidence.”

“Nick Foles told me last week that he felt the Lord had him in Philadelphia for a special moment and he played like it tonight,” Dungy added in a tweet following the Eagles’ victory over the New England Patriots.

A particular journalist criticized him, and as the article noted, Dungy fired back; on Twitter, he wrote:

NBC pays me to express my opinion. And it was my opinion that Nick Foles would play well because his Christian faith would allow him to to play with confidence. And that he’s a good QB. I think I was right on both counts.

The writer of the Federalist article, Shawn Fleetwood, stated:

At the end of the day, Christians can’t leave it up to one or a few individuals to be lone voices publicly standing for their faith. In many respects, the surrender of our beliefs — in large part, to avoid scrutiny from fellow sinners — has further enabled the sinful rot plaguing the nation’s devolving culture. If Christians want America to rediscover its biblical roots, it’s going to require all of us to take a page from Dungy’s playbook and place our love for God above our fear of the mob.

So, kudos to Coco Gauff, Tony Dungy, and the journalist Shawn Fleetwood by providing some reminders for us to be bold in our faith.  And, I think, regarding Coach Dungy's "clarification" about what Coco Gauff was actually doing after winning that tennis championship, we have to recognize that ideally, we should have one another's backs.  If we're not careful, we can become so critical and cynical that we fail to recognize that we are part of a glorious body of Christ who are called to encourage one another - now that doesn't mean that we don't point out and confront sin and error, but we should be quick to defend the actions of our brothers and sisters when they face criticism from a world that doesn't exactly understand or embrace people of faith. 

We mustn't be intimidated - there may be mockery for our beliefs.  We may face ridicule from the world, but that doesn't make us victims.  Because we are victors in Jesus Christ.  We are children of the Most High God, followers of the Savior of the World, endued with the power of the Holy Spirit.  We can be confident in Him and not be ashamed to call on His name.