He’s Not Our Kid!

            Former Virginia governor and U.S. Senator, George Allen, tells a funny story that illustrates the competitive spirit of his father, for whom he was named. Coach George Allen coached the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins during the 60s and 70s.

            Once, when Allen was coaching the Redskins, they were playing the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia. One of the officials made a terrible call against the Redskins, and the entire Washington bench protested.

            It just so happened that Bruce Allen, the coach's son, was on the sideline that day working as a ball boy. Bruce began screaming at the referee informing him of just how bad a job he was doing. The referee, none too pleased, informed Coach Allen that Washington would receive an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty if “that kid” didn’t shut up.

            Apprehensive that he would receive a penalty, Allen told the official, “That kid is not with us. He must be one those ball boys the Eagles gave us.” Evidently, the line judge accepted that explanation, because he did not call a penalty on the Redskins.

            Now, I doubt if Allen would have ultimately renounced his son, but that humorous story lends itself to ponder the troubling thing that Jesus said to his disciples, “51 Do you think that I came to bring peace to earth? No indeed! I came to make people choose sides. 52 A family of five will be divided, with two of them against the other three. 53 Fathers and sons will turn against one another, and mothers and daughters will do the same. Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law will also turn against each other” (Luke 12:51-53 CEV.)

            Wow! If the gospel writers had not recorded what Jesus said, it would be easy to place him in a box and package him in an innocuous way that would cause the whole world to love him.

            Strangely enough, God has always seemed more concerned with having himself expressed through the venue of truth rather than of good marketing.