Brat-Worst

Several online poker sites are free for entry and play.  So they're open virtually to all comers -- and that means all kinds of attitudes as well.  Check this chat from a Saturday night National League of Poker tournament:


Me:  Table toast to
Me:  Neil Armstrong.
Dealer:  radley666 wins Main Pot ($2,440) with Flush, jack high
radley666:  go eat a midgets dinglrburys *** neil
Dealer:  saintsman wins Main Pot ($2,120) with Two pair, kings and queens
Me:  No respect for
Me:  the dead, eh?
radley666:  what u gonna cry?? 
Me:  No.
Dealer:  flopblogger wins Main Pot ($210)
radley666:  u sick dirty sex predator

At this point, we were moved to a different table and had no further contact with Radley.  So there's an obvious question here: why did our effort to mark the death of the first person to walk on the moon bring such an ugly response -- including name-calling toward us?

We'd have to read the mind of Radley to be sure of the answer.  Maybe he was drunk.  Maybe he's a teenager going through a rebellious stage of life.  Maybe he was trying to "psych out" the rest of the table by matching bully tactics with tough words.  (Radley folded, in the hand we won.)

But people like Radley can be anywhere -- on your job, in your school, or driving aggressively around you on the highway.  The Bible advises us not to be surprised by this.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves.... boastful, proud, abusive.... ungrateful, unholy, without love.... slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited.... Have nothing to do with them. - II Timothy 3:1-5

The list here actually is longer, but we selected the traits which seem to refer most closely to Radley.

The advice to "have nothing to do with them" sounds logical, but it's almost too easy. What if conditions bring you face-to-face (in this case virtually) with such people?  Paul goes on to assure believers....

But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. - II Timothy 3:9

People with attitudes such as Radley may think they will - but they simply haven't learned the truth of life yet.

So how do you respond to this sort of potty-mouthed player?  We can think of a couple of Biblical approaches, which are easy to combine.

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. - Proverbs 15:1

Speaking softly admittedly is easier to accomplish in person.  The only real "volume control" in an online chat is in typing ALL-CAPS (indicative of shouting) or lower-case.

You have heard that it was said, "Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth."  But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. - Matthew 5:38-39

This was the approach Jesus took all the way to His crucifixion, as He was abused and mocked by soldiers. It goes against our nature, but it's what the Lord advises us to do.

When the tournament was over and it was bedtime, we did something we're not sure Radley would appreciate.  We prayed for him -- asking God to teach him whatever lessons he needs to learn, about whatever he's going through.  That's following Biblical guidance as well....

But I tell you: Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.... - Matthew 5:44-45

If more people did that, we might see a fulfillment of Neil Armstrong's famous words: "One giant leap for mankind."