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Dear friends
In the week following Pompey's FA cup victory a little book came my way entitled Thank God for football'. It tells how some of the most famous football teams, including, Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur, can trace their origin directly to a church. The product of seven years intensive research, the book has led to some real changes in the world of football. Swindon Town are changing their official badge after the research showed that Swindon had the incorrect year of founding. Tottenham Hotspur's founder is getting a proper gravestone after the book revealed he was buried in an unmarked paupers grave in Dover.
But beyond these incidentals, it is perhaps, the connection of Christianity with the game that is most interesting. Certainly, for the many thousands who support and go to watch the teams concerned, one suspects that it is an idea that would appear barely credible. However one imagined they thought of the beginning of their team, it would seem unlikely that they would have connected it with the church. The reason of course, is that Christian has become associated with the serious and solemn side of life. The expectations that surround Christian clergy for example, seldom include the notion that they might enjoy doing the fairly normal things that most of the population appreciate. I have encountered it throughout my ministry, but the same is true of the church more generally. The expectations that surround Christians are that they will be very strict, straight laced people who have no sense of fun, no sense of humour and no ability to enjoy life. The reasons for this are diverse, although I suspect that we have brought it on ourselves to some extent. And indeed, the business of following Jesus Christ is not a frivolous matter; it is a serious business which demands Our whole attention and the best of what we have. On the other hand, maybe we have not always had the balance quite right.
I look at the ministry of Jesus and I note his challenging stories, his powerful message and the way he sort solitude and time to pray. But I also see something else. His stories frequently reflect a love of the natural world and of people and I see he had a reputation for eating, drinking and socialising which might have appalled some of his later followers. As so often, Jesus reflects a way of living and being which the rest of us barely get near to emulating. But it does remind us that there is a time for everything under the sun, a time for seriousness and contemplation, but also a time for fun, relaxation and recreation.
Stephen
Thank God for Football' is written by Peter Lupson and published by Azure books
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