by Lois McLatchie Miller, Spectator (Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons)
It’s not unusual to hear stories about footballers getting into trouble. Aggressive fouls on the pitch, racist gestures, drunken nights out: all have landed football players on the front, rather than the back, pages of newspapers. But this week, midfielder Felix Nmecha caught headlines not for debauchery, but devoutness; celebrating his goal for Borussia Dortmund by kneeling down, removing an imaginary crown and laying it in the ground.
The gesture was intended to express his belief that Jesus, rather than any earthly achievement, deserves ultimate glory. But Dortmund’s official supporters’ group was unimpressed. It accused the player of being associated with Christian networks that promote homophobia and transphobia, declaring that “where religious convictions are used to deny people their dignity or equal worth, our tolerance for intolerance comes to an end”. Nmecha responded on Instagram clarifying that his celebration was about pointing to Jesus, not spreading hatred, and that Christianity’s message was one of love and respect for everyone.
The great irony, of course, is that the very concept of equal worth and tolerance is uniquely and profoundly Christian. What made Jesus Christ so remarkable as a leader was not that he dined with political heroes; he dwelt among sinners. The cheating tax collectors; the multi-divorced woman at the well; the blind beggar; the shunned and the broken. His message was not that all people were equally good people, but that all were equally sinful, rebellious, and in need of forgiveness.
In his social media post, Nmecha referenced John 3.16. The famous Bible verse that God so loved the world – (i.e., everyone, no matter who they are and what they had done) – that he gave his only son, so that whosoever – (no matter their background or identity) – believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
And so, the norm of equality spread slowly and unmistakably throughout the Earth.