English clubs publish their players' faith
Forty percent of those clubs hold Bible studies and prayer meetings, according to a Christians in Sports survey in England and Wales.
Seventy-five percent of English clubs acknowledge having Christian players, according to Christians in Sports. And some are already telling the story on their websites: their players' faith is no longer a locker-room secret. Evangélico Digital reported it.
Brentford opens the locker-room door
Brentford published a report on its site titled "Football and Faith" about three of its players: Portuguese midfielder Fábio Carvalho, Brazilian forward Igor Thiago and Briton Josh Dasilva. They pray together, read the Bible and share their Christian lives. The club also mentioned the recent baptisms of Carvalho and Dasilva.
According to Brentford, that shared faith helps them get through adversity, support one another and look beyond performance and results.
«The scoreboard informs, it doesn't define.»
Chelsea did something similar with Trevoh Chalobah and Maxence Lacroix, who spoke about how faith shapes their lives and sustains them in hard times. Everton published comments from Beto Betuncal, now at Fiorentina, who called playing for the English club a "gift from God."
What the numbers reveal
Christians in Sports reviewed the six top tiers of men's professional football in England and Wales. Three out of four clubs acknowledge having Christian players in the first team. Forty percent regularly hold Bible studies and prayer meetings. And half of the Premier League clubs report regular Christian gatherings.
Graham Daniels, director of the organization, said: "Christianity is not disappearing from professional football; it is much more present than most people think."
The scoreboard doesn't sign your identity
Something curious can happen to a young Hispanic who follows the Premier League: he knows a player's name, price and goals-per-game average, and has no idea what holds that player's life together on the inside. That part doesn't show up in the stats.
A club publishing a player's faith doesn't turn it into a brand or a campaign. It doesn't make him a model to copy in everything, either. A testimony is a fact, and behind it are people who pray, read and get baptized because they believe, not because they won.
What does change something is the heart of the matter: identity. The footballer lives with the scoreboard dictating who he is every weekend; the rest of us have our grades, our followers, our job or our money doing the same. Paul puts it bluntly: "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3, ESV).
Hidden. Not hanging on Saturday's result. If your worth depends on how things went, you will live on highs and lows, and Monday always comes. What grace does is different: it puts you in Christ before you ever kick the ball and holds you when you fail.
Before you look at the table, your grades or your messages, ask yourself who tells you who you are. If the answer is a result, talk to someone at your church and go back to the gospel; if it's Christ, play with peace: the scoreboard informs, it doesn't define.
