Does God care about football?
One hour before Australia's big game against Italy, I found myself praying for the Aussie team without really meaning to. I was just sitting on the bus home, noticed it was one hour till the game, and the thoughts took their own direction upwards.
It made me laugh, though. And I didn't really continue once I realised what I was doing. I later told one of my friends with whom I was watching the game, who is a real die-hard fan, and she told me I was being sacrilegious!
During the game, at moments when things were really tense, I guess I reverted to what I always do when in a tight spot - I prayed! Just a quick word of 'please help' before I even realised it was out.
And then, with the bitter defeat that happened in the 94th minute, there was such a sense of injustice. How could that have been allowed to happen?! Couldn't God have got the ball to go straight into the keeper's hands and given us another 30 minutes to keep up the fight to progress to the next round?
Our vicar here is Australian. He commented a few weeks ago that someone had wondered if the church would be praying for the football. I suggested that, since he was the vicar, surely he could make the call on that one and choose to lead the church in prayer for the Australian team ;)
Despite all of the above, I actually don't really know whether God cares about football. I know he cares about all the details of our lives. But I don't think he really has a preference as to which team wins the World Cup. Somehow it doesn't really seem that important. There are a lot of issues in life that can capture the attention of the church and the general public that, really, are very unimportant. In the heat of the moment, they can seem so significant. In the light of eternity, they crumble to ashes.
What I do know, beyond a doubt, is that God cares for the widows, the fatherless, the refugee, the homeless wanderer, the naked, hungry and imprisoned and that he wants us to do likewise. He fights against injustice, weeps over oppression, and is grieved by his disobedient people. He cares for everyone and longs to show his love to all. Knowing that gives far more shape and definition to my life than anything else! And, in the light of those everlasting truths, everything else pales in contrast....especially questions about football!
It made me laugh, though. And I didn't really continue once I realised what I was doing. I later told one of my friends with whom I was watching the game, who is a real die-hard fan, and she told me I was being sacrilegious!
During the game, at moments when things were really tense, I guess I reverted to what I always do when in a tight spot - I prayed! Just a quick word of 'please help' before I even realised it was out.
And then, with the bitter defeat that happened in the 94th minute, there was such a sense of injustice. How could that have been allowed to happen?! Couldn't God have got the ball to go straight into the keeper's hands and given us another 30 minutes to keep up the fight to progress to the next round?
Our vicar here is Australian. He commented a few weeks ago that someone had wondered if the church would be praying for the football. I suggested that, since he was the vicar, surely he could make the call on that one and choose to lead the church in prayer for the Australian team ;)
Despite all of the above, I actually don't really know whether God cares about football. I know he cares about all the details of our lives. But I don't think he really has a preference as to which team wins the World Cup. Somehow it doesn't really seem that important. There are a lot of issues in life that can capture the attention of the church and the general public that, really, are very unimportant. In the heat of the moment, they can seem so significant. In the light of eternity, they crumble to ashes.
What I do know, beyond a doubt, is that God cares for the widows, the fatherless, the refugee, the homeless wanderer, the naked, hungry and imprisoned and that he wants us to do likewise. He fights against injustice, weeps over oppression, and is grieved by his disobedient people. He cares for everyone and longs to show his love to all. Knowing that gives far more shape and definition to my life than anything else! And, in the light of those everlasting truths, everything else pales in contrast....especially questions about football!
posted by KT @ 11:39 pm
2 Comments:
At 8:42 pm,
pip said…
So how did the bell-ringing go?
At 4:48 am,
Steveybabe said…
Amen!
I may be a die-hard football fan, but when it comes to praying about footy...yuk! There's so much more that's important going on in the world.
That doesn't mean football's impact is always insignificant. Ivorian civil war has been affected by the coming together of the players on the pitch. Perhaps God can use the occassional football match to change some injustice in the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/5052876.stm
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