The man with the pointy elbows

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord... Colossians 3:23

... so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe... Philippians 2:15

Hasn’t it been good to see so many World Cup footballers declaring their Christian faith? They raise their eyes to heaven when they score a goal. They cross themselves as they enter and leave the pitch. They have Jesus tee-shirts under their kit, ready to be displayed. Some of them kneel in prayer in full view of the millions watching. Good, yes? 

So said a preacher I heard recently.

Well, yes and no, as far as I can see. Of course it is heartening to know that so many of today’s celebrities believe in Jesus, and that they’re not ashamed to make it known. But I must admit I have my doubts about this kind of witness. 

They boil down to two.

First, how does this square with Jesus’ very clear teaching that we should be careful about displaying our spirituality: “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen” (Matthew 6:6)? He is reacting to religious leaders of his day who “love to pray standing in the synagogues and on street corners”. The implication is clear: ostentatious religion is not good. I don’t see why exceptions should be made for big football stadiums.

Second, and to my mind even more troubling, I have noticed that several of these pious players are not above the dirty tricks common among pretty well all footballers. There’s one in particular who seems to have extremely pointy elbows - and who isn’t averse to ramming them into the faces of his opponents. In general, they seem to do their share of shirt-pulling, goalmouth grappling, rash tackling, arguing with the officials, not to mention appealing for a corner or throw-in when they know very well the ball came off them last. 

Some years ago there was a test match cricket team in which many of the players were known as Christians. On one occasion, so the story goes, one of them touched the ball to the wicket-keeper - which means (in case you’re not familiar with cricket) that he was out and should have been heading back to the pavilion. But he stood there, in effect lying to the umpire by pretending that he hadn’t touched the ball. The umpire missed the touch and gave him not out. Whereupon one of the opposing fielders looked him in the eye and said, “I thought you were supposed to be a Christian.” Ouch. A literal case, you might say, of talking the talk but not walking the walk.

Well, all right, it’s easy to point the finger at the celebrities - they’re up there to be shot at. But what about me? What about you? We need to ask ourselves the question: Am I in fact any better in my everyday life? Are there areas of inconsistency in my behaviour? I deplore gossip - but do I do an odd bit myself now and then? I claim to be honest - but have I never made the odd dodgy expenses claim? I reckon to be a good citizen - so do I never break speed limits?

I heard a preacher once say that he didn’t like to tell Christians to “go out and be a witness”. Why not? Because, he said, the fact is that once we are known as Christians we are automatically witnesses, whether we intend it or not and whether we like it or not. The only question is, are we good witnesses or bad?

Let’s make no mistake, the world sits up and takes notice when followers of Jesus go with the crowd, falling short of his glory. And they love it, they just love it: “Huh, isn’t he/she supposed to be a Christian?”

Take another look, please, at the little verses I have put at the top of this piece. Do you do everything (yes, even playing football!) “as working for the Lord”? Are you “blameless and pure” - which means, of course, being above reproach, being the kind of person at whom no-one can point an accusing finger? This ideal is for every Christian, whether top-level sportsperson or humdrum office-worker. 

Could it be that in fact I am no better than the footballer with the pointy elbows?

Oh God, forgive me that I am sometimes guilty of double-standards, of acting in a way that is inconsistent with following Jesus. Help me to be not hypocritical but holy, seeking to be like him in all things. Amen.