BRAZILIAN FOOTBALL SHIRT
Brazil is the most successful team in the history of the World Cup – winners five times: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002.
The only team to have played in every World Cup
It is probably the team with most Christians, who openly confess their faith and witness to it.
Ricardo Leite – better known as Kaka (nickname from Brazilian Ricardo) – was voted FIFA Best Player of the Year (2007), and UEFA Best Footballer of the Year, among many other accolades.
He came near to paralysis in a swimming accident, when 18.
Kaka wears a T-shirt saying: “I belong to Christ.”
He attends a Pentecostal Church in Sao Paolo:
Apostolic Reborn in Christ Church. The
gold-plated trophy from FIFA is displayed in the church entrance with an
explanatory inscription. He set an
example of sexual abstinence outside of marriage.
His plan is to become a clergyman, on retirement from football
The international team badge has the Cross on it THREE TIMES: gold, green and white
All this does not prove that there is a God, or that Christianity is right – but it does prove that Christians are not all confined to Zimmer Frames and old folks homes.
It gives good reason to consider the Message of Jesus.
I enjoy watching football. One of the great concerns of spectators and commentators is JUSTICE – that offences are noted and punished! The Match Officials are on the alert, and even the television cameras are used to ensure nothing, if possible, escapes the eagle eyes.
My most unruly class, one year, said: We come to your lessons: you should come and watch us play football! The two teams went off at halftime, but the opposition refused to take part in the second half: my class had been so lawless, and the Referee had lost control – they all went home! Tight control on fair play is vital.
Imagine a player who tackles from behind and breaks both legs of the other man. He then attacks the Ref and his Assistants, both Managers, and people in the crowd. Any mitigation presented by his Barrister would have little effect, and he would, in effect, be banned for the rest of his playing life – forever. He has to pay the full penalty. In this sense, Football is not quite like Christianity: there is no possibility of someone else taking your punishment. We may choose to take the full force of God’s wrath; or we can accept Jesus’s Death for our redemption, and be acquitted!
Imagine I am an extremely talented and valuable player; but I am on the books of a terrible team, whose
Manager is useless, and the Owner of the club is a criminal drug addict and
dealer. One of the best teams in the
World want to negotiate a deal worth millions – the Manager is the best, and
the Owner is honest and reliable. Will
I agree to the terms of the lucrative contract? I would be a fool not to!
In a slightly similar way, Jesus has paid our transfer fee: only it is
not commercial, but judicial – paid to the ultimate Law Giver and Judge: God.
The pundits are so incredibly well informed, even my Great
Grandson when aged ten knew the biographies of players and managers – many from
abroad with difficult names. Church
Members, by contrast, are often willfully ill-informed apropos their faith.
The Church needs to be more like Football – firm rules which are enforced. The Referee and his Assistants do their best, but in American Football there are many more officials on the field, and television cameras are used to adjudicate.
Without rules there would be: serious injuries, no
skills, no pleasure, no enjoyment, no entertainment, and no serious attainment.
In life God keeps a thorough watch on thought, word
and deed.
But, there is FORGIVENESS, even if history cannot be re-written.
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