Out of Sight Olympians- Part 2: Don't Throw Your Integrity Out the Window

I was proud to be Canadian last night when the Canadian Women's Hockey Team won the Gold medal. That is, until this morning when I read a disturbing news article:

The International Olympic Committee will investigate the behaviour of the Canadian women's hockey players who celebrated their gold medal at the Vancouver Games by drinking alcohol on the ice. ... The players drank cans of beer and bottles of champagne, and smoked cigars with their gold medals draped around their necks.

What the women's hockey team obviously didn't realize, was that they were representing Canada, all of Canada. To the world, they showed that they:

• Didn't care about the law. Younger members of the team were drinking under-age.
• Didn't care about being a good sport. They saw fit to celebrate rudely in front of everyone. There is such a thing as a poor winner.
  
• Didn't care about the integrity of their sport. They went against what they had been told. The spokesman for the Canadian Olympics Committee, Steve Keough said, "We condone celebrations. ... We don't condone actions of irresponsibility."

Titus 2:7: "Set an example of good works yourself, with integrity and dignity in your teaching."

The Canadian women hockey players did the exact opposite last night. They shamed Canada's name. They did not set a good example to the world. Also, they did not repent of their actions. Hockey Canada apologized for the players' irresponsible actions, saying, "The members of Team Canada apologize if their on-ice celebrations ... have offended anyone." You probably noticed that no where in that statement did they say that they were sorry for their actions. They said sorry if they OFFENDED anyone. They think there is nothing in their actions to apologize for.

What is even sadder though is the results of a survey taken about the Canadian women's behavior. The survey question was: Should the Canadian women's hockey team be punished for its gold-medal celebration? The results were: Yes - 13% No - 87%. Obviously most Canadians don't see anything wrong with their behavior either.

So does anyone else see what's wrong with this picture? A group of people who are given talent, health, and victory directly by the hand of God arrogantly celebrate "their" victory with a proud display of ungodly behavior.

Isaiah 45:7 ~ "I form light and create darkness, I make success and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things."