Spirituality and Football

I have always been amazed by the Christian spiritual language used in football (if you are American, we are talking soccer!). Look at the following headlines and comments:

“The resurrection of Diego Maradona”, Financial Times. Christianty talks about the resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Incidentally, it is in Maradona’s home country where they have a gigantic statue of Christ the Redeemer, the only human who has ever been resurrected to live forever.

“Messi on a mission”, FIFA.com In Christianity we talk of missions.

“Maradona says I'll snatch glory”, Daily Star. Well, from Christian perspective only God has and deserves the glory.

“I touched Thierry Henry’s hand, I know it is not like touching God, but it is close to it” Fan at the airport when France National team arrived in South Africa for 2010 FIFA World Cup.

“Football is not a matter of life and death, it is more than that”. Jose Mourinho, coach of Real Madrid. We believe Christianity is a matter of life and death. Christianity is about how to obtain life and avoid death in Jesus Christ.

There are many such quotes made by footballers, coaches and fans alike. One of the telling scriptures in the Bible is Rom 1:20. In essence, it says that everything is spiritual, the universe and all that is in it. I believe, this includes football!

^“20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” (Rom 1:20)

From a Christian spirituality point of view, let me tell you about the 5 things that I believe football can teach us.

Firstly, in Christianity, ALL Nations are Included. FIFA has 203 member countries; the UN has only 192 member countries. All countries on earth are members of FIFA, the Football Association. Talking about Christianity, Paul says “^“There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female. For you are ALL one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28)

He also says, ^“In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile,  circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in ALL of us.” (Col. 3:11)

Secondly, in FIFA, all members are ranked according to their performance. When the FIFA World Cup was hosted by South Africa in 2010, South Africa’s ranking was 90. Due to the improved performance, South Africa’s ranking has improved from 90 to 38 in the last few weeks, due to South Africa’s improved performance. Using the apocalyptic language, John wrote these words of Christ to Christians, “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.” Rev. 22:12 In Christianity, those that work hard get their rewards, and football reminds us of that.

Thirdly, Jesus’ reward is an eternal prize. “All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. ²⁷ I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” (1 Cor. 9:25-26) Paul says we do it for an eternal prize. Therefore when I see Messi or Ronaldo’s discipline, it reminds me of the prize I am after.

Fourthly, all humanity watches the “game”, and will witness the prize-giving. As I write this, Barcelona and Manchester United FC will be battling it out for the European Champions league on 28 May 2011. It was estimated that more people will watch that game than those that watched the final of the FIFA World Cup in 2010. In 2010, 26.3 million people were expected to watch the 64 games, that’s 410 mill or 7% of humans today.

However, the Bible tells us that when Jesus returns, “All the nations will be gathered in his presence” (Matt. 25:32) It will not be only 7% of humans watching. All humans will be watching the final of humanity, the prize-giving, and gnashing of teeth by those who would have lost the ultimate prize.

Fifth, but not least, Christianity is a team sport. Christians exist as part of the body of Christ, the Church. They are a community. They do not exist as individuals. Their success is in the community. Their growth is in the community. Paul reminds us that even as we strive for our prize, that “the prize is not just for me but for ALL who eagerly look forward to his appearing.” (2 Tim. 4:7-8)

In football, 11 players are in the field in any given moment. Each one of them has a specific role. The church functions in the same way. There are many members of the church. Speaking of the church, Paul puts it this way:

^“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, ⁵ so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. ⁶ In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. ⁷ If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. ⁸ If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” (Rom. 12:4-8)

In any football game, the players that play as a team win. I have seen many teams comprising highly talented players, but they loose nonetheless. When you analyze the game, you realize that individual players wanted to shine alone, and when that happens, nothing comes of it.

As you watch your next football game, remember these lessons from football. The 90 minutes of football need not be time wasted for Christians. They can be your Ahaa moments of Christian spirituality. Enjoy the game!

The Ascension and You

Many South Africans will remember Ascension Day was a holiday in South Africa before 1994. It was always on a Thursday, and it was one of the annual long weekends. After 1994 the government started reviewing holidays, and Christian holidays came under review. Ascension Day was one of them. At that time, when Ascension Day was being abolished, I don’t remember many Christians raising any objection. If it was Christmas or Good Friday, there will probably have been a lot of noise. Looking back, I think it is sad that Christians did not deem Ascension Day important enough to defend. I conducted a simple survey on Facebook to check how many people know when Ascension Day was this year. Sadly, I found that almost half professing Christians did not know.

Ascension was such a central belief of Christians that it was included in most of the Christian Creeds of the early church. I don’t know if you know what the Creeds are. A Creed is a statement of beliefs. In the early days of the church, before the New Testament was canonized, the Creeds helped as a unifying and doctrinal grounding of Christians. Believers would recite the Creed before baptism, and later during church services as some still do today.

For example, we have what is called the Apostles’ Creed. It was not developed by the apostles, but is believed to have summarized what the apostles believed in. Here is what the Apostles Creed says:

“I believe in God the Father Almighty; Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit; born of the virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven; and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.”

In the early church they would recite this when they met. In the Reformed church which I used to attend, we used to recite the creed. At that time I had no clue why we recited that, but today I realize why this is crucial for believers. They have helped the church to preserve doctrinal soundness throughout the history of the church. Some of these creeds were developed after long discussions and debates at Church conferences like the one at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, and revised in AD 381. Others include Chalcedonian Creed (AD 451), and the Athanasian Creed . Almost all of these creeds have one commonality: they affirm the belief in the birth, death, resurrection, ascension and return of Jesus Christ. For the believers in that age, the belief in the ascension was as important as the belief in the birth, the death and resurrection of Jesus.

For most Christians today it is easier to understand why the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus are important. But why does the ascension matter to us today as something we believe in. The ascension event is recorded in Acts 1:9-11 ^“After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

During the 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus used to appear and disappear to his followers. But on this particular day, he did not just disappear. He was lifted up into the clouds before their very eyes.

But why was it important that Jesus ascended in this way, and not simply disappeared like he did the previous 40 days. If he did not leave this way, there would be stories today about where he is. Some would be saying we saw him here or there. Jesus himself emphasized this point of knowing where he will be and how he will come back. “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! ²⁷ For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.”(Matt. 24:26-27).

So, Jesus ascended visibly because he would return visibly. In other words, when Jesus returns, no human on earth will not be aware. All humans will be aware. Even those that are asleep will wake up. In fact, believers who are dead will also wake up and join him in the descent.

The passage in Acts also says he was surrounded by clouds as he ascended. Why was that? In Hebrews the believers who had died in faith are referred to as a “cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1). The cloud represented all the believers, because he was ascending with them. Jesus was our representative human. When he was born, we were born in and with him, when he lived, we lived, died, were buried, resurrected and ascended, in and with him. Paul puts it this way, “Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? ⁴ For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives” (Rom. 6:3-4)

Concerning the ascension, Paul tells us, “For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:6). “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3). So if it is true that we have ascended with Jesus, and are now seated with him at the right hand of God, we will descend with him when he returns. Those who have died in the faith, and those that are in the faith and alive, will together be caught up in the clouds to meet Jesus, and the world will see Jesus descend with all the believers with him. By then they will be transformed into the same body he ascended with, and will share in his glory.

But what are the practical implications of the ascension for Christian believers today? I believe it is found in the passage in Acts 1, “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven?” You see, believers need to have a posture towards heaven where they are seated with Christ at the right hand of God. John says that if we have this belief that we are seated with Christ at the right hand of God in heaven, and have the expectation that he is coming back in glory, we will purify ourselves. “Christ is pure, and all who have this hope in Christ keep themselves pure like Christ.”(1 Jn. 3:3) On the same thought, Paul puts it this way, “aim at what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Think only about the things in heaven, not the things on earth.” (Col. 3:1-2) The ascension reminds us of the return because “he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go” (Acts 1:11). The hope of the resurrection and the return of Christ makes believers to live like kingdom citizens.

It is this belief which spurred the Apostles to forsake everything and pursue the kingdom of God at great cost. It is this belief as captured in the Apostles’ Creed that says I believe in Jesus who “ascended into heaven; and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty”. The same belief made Paul write the following to the Philippians with TEARS in his eyes:

“ Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. (Phil. 3:17-21)

Christians are like the woman who was engaged to be married when war broke out. Her fiancé was sent to war. Before he left he promised her that he will come back, and when he comes back she must be ready to get married to him. After he had left she got the wedding dress done to her size. Since then she started watching her weight to make sure that when her man returns she will be able to fit into her dress. She stopped flirting with other men. Everybody knew she was waiting for her man. Her whole life reflected that. Each month she will go into her bedroom and fit the dress to make sure she has not gained weight. One day as she was busy fitting her dress, there was a knock on the door. She went to check who it was still wearing the dress. As she opened the door, there he was! Her man was back! He could not believe his eyes. Her bride was ready. With tears in his eyes, he said to her, “When I said you must be ready to marry me when I return, I had no idea you will be this ready…”

Like this woman, Christians also await their bridegroom, and as they wait, they live like those who wait, those with hope. The bridegroom says to us: “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.” (Rev. 22:12). I don’t know whether when the people in the world look at you they can say, “Yes, this man, this woman, is waiting for her LORD”. We live like people with hope for something.

May the Ascension be a perpetual reminder for you that that this Jesus who ascended into heaven “will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go”. And may that knowledge transform you and how you live your life! AMEN.