"It matters a great deal who is going to win, but not at all who won"

Willie John McBride, Irish Rugby player

Third commandment

Watch any game of football in the UK, and you will hear many references to Jesus Christ. However, the words are used as a swearword, rather than as an act of worship.

How do we react, when our friends and team-mates misuse the name of the LORD? Should we rebuke them or just ignore it? It is an individual reaction. I tend towards ignoring it. In our culture most people do not realize they are doing it. The words "Christ" or "Jesus Christ" have no real significance for them. They are arguably not knowingly blaspheming. For us to ask them not to misuse the LORD'S name seems to me unlikely to bring them closer to knowing Jesus Christ. We need, rather, to model the love of Jesus to them.

Perhaps we can use it as an opening. I remember hearing a clever talk at the end of an evangelistic golf tournament. The speaker said that he was going to talk about two words he had heard several times on the golf course that day, "My God". He explained how it was possible to have a relationship with God before challenging his audience to reach a point of saying "My God" and meaning it.

We probably do not misuse the LORD'S name by shouting it during a game, but do we fall short of this commandment in other ways? If we run a Christian team, do we live up to the name of the LORD in the way we play and the way we treat people? As individuals we need to strive to live a life, which is worthy of the LORD - in sport as elsewhere.

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