Richard Townend ponders who will be the first to sport an 'I Belong to Jesus' T-Shirt

Richard Townend
Richard Townend

If I was a betting man and fancied a flutter on something a little less obvious than picking the outright winners of the World Cup, I might consider placing a stake on the first side to show a Jesus Christ T-shirt.

Brazil are clearly the frontrunners with odds of 15/2, but then they do have form in this category. The legendary Kaka revealed his famous 'I Belong to Jesus' T-shirt at the end of the 2002 World Cup Final. Five years later, AC Milan star Lucio wore the same shirt to revel in his side's Champions League final victory over Liverpool, which I'm sure didn't make it any easier for Liverpool fans.

But you also get good odds on some of the other Latin countries in the World Cup to show an outward display of their Christian faith. How about 9/1 for Italy or Argentina? Or 12/1 for Spain?

As for England, well, let's just say it's not going to happen. I mean, can you imagine John Terry celebrating a goal by showing the world a T-shirt that says 'I've been forgiven by Jesus?'

The bookies share my pessimism. You can get odds of 100/1 on an England player being the first to show a Jesus Christ T-shirt.

Frank Lampard's goal celebration will probably be about as religious as the England team get. Each time the Chelsea Midfielder hits the back of the net he looks to the sky and points to Heaven - a reference to his mum Pat who died of cancer a few years ago.

Our football team's indifference to religion says a lot about our culture today. In England, we are conditioned to be reserved and keep our opinions to ourselves. We are encouraged to be open-minded about everything going, but not to make any statements that might possibly offend someone.

Take St George's Day. Whilst the Welsh, Irish and Scots have huge parties to celebrate their patron saint, we in England don't give dear old George a second thought. To do so would be to make a statement that some people might find offensive. So we leave the flag to be hijacked by the far right extremists who truly do bring this country a bad name.

What I love about the World Cup is that ordinary football fans take the flag back. We allow ourselves to revel in nationalistic pride, to share our common identity and celebrate our achievements on the football field. Houses and cars across the country are festooned with the cross of St George. England expects.

In this country, football has that effect on people. Put a normally quiet, level-headed man in a football stadium where his favourite team are playing, and I guarantee he will be transformed into a passion-driven excitable fanatic. When they win, he will be ecstatic. When they lose he'll be despondent. And he won't leave those feelings at the ground. He will carry them until the next match.

Bill Shankly made a very famous quote about the beautiful game. "Football's not a matter of life and death," he said. "It's much more important than that."

Now we know the truth. We know that football isn't a matter of life and death. But our faith in Jesus is. Wouldn't it be great if the level of expectancy in our churches was like that in our football stadiums? Wouldn't it be great if every follower of Jesus was so excited by their faith that they would wave their flag from the rooftops? And wouldn't it be the icing on the cake if an England player revealed their Jesus T-shirt just after winning the World Cup on July 11th.

Come on John Terry. You know you want to. CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.