I would imagine that the most googled two words in the universe today must be "World Cup". Far bigger than the Super Bowl, more significant than the NBA Finals, and of much greater interest to the globe than College Football could ever be, the beautiful game has captured the imaginations of the 48 participating nations and quite a bit of the rest of the world as well.
My introduction to football (soccer) came in 1999 when I moved to Nottingham, England. I experienced the end of the 1998-1999 Premier League season which saw Manchester United narrowly pip Arsenal to the title. Nottingham Forest was relegated and so I decided I would not support a team that was no longer in the top division. John Glesinger, whom I was working under in an apprentice ministry position, begged me to become an Arsenal supporter. I was reluctant at first, but since there was a natural connection to the club through John, I agreed to support Arsenal with one condition - we had to attend at least two matches throughout the season. We went to the Arsenal - Derby County match early in the season at Pride Park (2-1 Arsenal win), and then in the spring of 2000 we watched Arsenal dismantle Deportivo La Coruna 5-1 in the UEFA Cup at the old Highbury Stadium in North London. For 27 years I have been an Arsenal (and USMNT) supporter in particular, and a big soccer fan in general.
Though I am a huge Texas Longhorn fan and love College Football, I realize that American Football, especially College Football, is a niche sport without a large global following. What I love about supporting Arsenal and being a soccer fan is that I can find connections with other Arsenal supporters and soccer fans almost anywhere in the world. One of the things that this World Cup should teach us is that there should be far more that unites us as human beings than that which divides us. I have loved seeing the supporters of African, South American, Asian, European, and North American teams all coming together in various Mexican, Canadian, and US cities to cheer on their nations, with a friendly, diplomatic, and curious tone. Though the United States has much for which to be ashamed in its past and present (like most every nation), I hope that our guests for this World Cup have been warmly welcomed and that they have seen the best that we have to offer. I also wish that the nations of the world would find more opportunities to come together in moments of partnership and celebration, rather than through war, hatred, suspicion, and strife. I hope and pray that we see more of these positive scenes in my lifetime, but I know that in the age to come, the promise of this World Cup will be realized in ways that we cannot even begin to imagine.
At the end of the book of Revelation, we are given a glimpse of what life will be like in the renewed creation when God comes home to live with his people. The writer of the Apocalypse describes it like this: "And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day - and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations...On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations." (Revelation 21:23-22:2)
Through this World Cup we've seen a little glimpse of what life could be like if the nations of the world could find common ground and live as one. I can't wait when this foretaste will become reality when God's will is finally and fully done on earth as it is in heaven. - Shay
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