Last weekend I was privileged, and blessed, to play in a major (for me) pool tournament. Five of the top 10 players in the world participated, and luckily I didn’t have to play any of them! But I really wanted to shake the hand of the #1 player, which I did. And when I thanked him for all he has done for American pool, his reply was pretty much a grunt. Same thing with a friend of mine. Which brought to mind a truism: “Be nice to those you pass on the way up, you’ll see those same people on the way down.”
I invented another truism some decades ago, which Pert Shampoo claimed as it’s own, with no compensation to me: “You only have one chance to make a good first impression. “Mr. #1 missed his one chance in spectacular fashion. He won’t remember his rudeness for a minute—I will remember it for the rest of my life.
The Bible has a lot to say about how to interact with others:
“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” [Hebrews 13:2]
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” [Philippians 2:3]
In humility, you say? The Bible also has a lot of instruction about the concept of humbleness:
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” [Ephesians 4:2]
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” [James 4:10]
“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!” [Philippians 2:8]
If the Son of God can humble himself, then His followers have no excuse. Mr. 1 is hardly alone in rude interactions and lack of humbleness, so I guess it’s up to us to demonstrate to them how God desires for His creation to behave as we interact with each other.
Every chance we get.
Blessings,
–Keith