Was Phil Neville Heartless? England’s Lionesses, Entitlement, & the God of Grace

Culture, Published

Was Phil Neville Heartless? England’s Lionesses, Entitlement, & the God of Grace

Phil Neville, coach for England Women’s World Cup team, has caused controversy this week, because, according to The Times, he said that his team (who finished fourth) did not deserve a heroes’ welcome or an open top bus tour because “they’ve not earned it … a bus-top tour or a trip to Downing Street would be celebrating failure.”

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To be honest, I’m sure Neville would be the first to say there’s been much to celebrate for England this World Cup: the Lionesses have won the nations’ hearts, their semi-final had more TV viewers than anything else in 2019, and seeing local girl Georgia Stanway on the international stage was brilliant! For the legacy of women’s football, it’s a big win.

But back to Neville’s point, why lower the bar? If the team haven’t won, then for all that we might salute their accomplishments, surely we can’t say they deserve to be treated as winners? You’ve either won or you haven’t.

It raises an interesting point about who deserves what. As a Christian I’m thankful that God’s love doesn’t work like a football competition. I think often people assume God will love us if we put on a good show – being better than the next person, etc. But if God related to us like that then – if we’re honest – none of us could say we’ve perfectly met his standards.

But at the heart of the Christian faith is the message of God’s grace: an undeserved love. So we can be honest about our failings, knowing that God loves us in spite of what we’re like.

It’s sometimes said that we live in an ‘entitlement generation’. Like the L’Oreal adverts, it’s not that we think we’ve earned our rights, it’s that we just think we’re worth them. Maybe that’s why Neville’s words have touched a nerve. But in the cold light of day, we all know how ugly a sense of misplaced entitlement can be.

So well played to the Lionesses! And here’s to celebrating Christianity as the liberating news that God loves us in Jesus Christ, not because we’ve deserved it – in fact it’s clear we haven’t – but rather because it’s a gift to be received.

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This post first appeared as part of a weekly Podium Page in a local newspaper (South-West Cumbria’s The Mail), in which three people are invited to contribute a brief response to a trending issue.

July 13, 2019 by Robin Ham

Published

Introducing the 2019 Life Audit (Free Download)

“If you do not know where you come from, then you don’t know where you are, and if you don’t know where you are, then you don’t know where you’re going. And if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re probably going wrong.”

These words are found on the lips of one Terry Pratchett’s characters in his Discworld books. They’re a perceptive nudge to get us to keep checking our bearings. Where am I? Where have I been, and where am I headed? Know thyself. And it’s this sentiment that captures the thinking behind the ‘2019 Life Audit’.

The initial idea for a ‘stock-take’ came from an online article by Melissa Kruger, ‘New Year, New Beginnings: The Importance of Considering Our Ways’, which I read last January. Melissa’s questions were really helpful and prompted me to create a personal ‘audit’ worksheet of my own, which we used to begin 2018 in our small group at Grace Church Barrow. When I shared a sample of it on Twitter, a few people asked for a copy for their own use, so this year I figured it may be worth investing a bit of time to ‘upgrade’ it and create the ‘2019 Life Audit’.

I think the whole ’New Year Resolutions’ tradition can often become an exhausting exercise that ends up burdening people with guilt, but there’s undoubtedly great value in using the natural marker of a new year to ‘take stock’. As I’ve written about before, I think it can be very easy to ‘reason your season’ – to excuse the ‘state of affairs’ in which we find ourselves. Instead, it’s helpful to consider where we find ourselves and the trajectory we’re on.

We don’t do this to idolise productivity, but rather in order to steward ourselves and the responsibilities entrusted to us as best we can. We do this because we want to discern where God is calling us to grow and change, in his strength. We do this because God gives us ‘ordinary means of grace’, and we’d be fools if we neglected them. We do this because our lives are meant to be spent. Indeed, they will be spent on something, the real question is ‘what?’.

And that’s what this stock-take is all about.

So why not make some space in your diary over the new year period? Print out the downloadable booklet (19 pages – you can see a couple of them on this post). Find somewhere you’ll be undisturbed. Put your favourite music on and grab a pen.

And let’s pray that as we reflect on our lives, we’d be more conscious of his grace, more dependent upon his Spirit, more committed to his people, and more willing to ‘abound in the work of the Lord’, knowing our labour in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Download a free copy via Noisetrade here

December 27, 2018 by Robin Ham

Published

So This Is Christmas? (Christian Comment 16/12/18)

This week I had the opportunity to write for a weekly ‘Christian Comment’ section of the local paper…

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What’s on your Christmas playlist this year? Are you someone who loves the Bublé? Band Aid? Or maybe you’re partial to a generous serving of Wizzard, Wham! and Slade.

To be honest, it’s hard to escape most of them! Wander into the shops and you’re sure to hear them pumping out of the PA system. I discovered this week that someone has even made a 25-minute remix of ‘Last Christmas’. (Actually, it’s surprisingly good.)

Then you’ve got John Lennon’s contribution: “So this is Christmas.” I’ve always thought those lyrics had a healthy dose of realism to them.

After all, often we place so much pressure on the Christmas season. Of course, it’s not helped by all those feel-good adverts and ‘Here’s how to have the perfect Christmas’ articles.

And yet the reality can leaves us feeling, at best, rather flat, or perhaps even despairing and crushed. Maybe it’s heightened relationship tensions, the financial pressures, or just a dull sense of disappointment. We think of Christmas as the time to get the crackers out, but it’s often also when the cracks appear. So this is Christmas?

At Grace Church last week, we looked at another Christmas song. Not a song from some tinsel-covered 80’s crooner or some photoshopped pop icon, but a song that came from the very first Christmas.

In the first chapter of Luke’s gospel, a young teenage girl is told she’s going to give birth to a special child. Mary’s response? She starts singing. Here’s a taster: “My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.”

Mary’s joy didn’t come from creating the perfect festive family memories, or being able to give and receive everything that’s on her Christmas list. It didn’t come from being able to create some sort of ‘magical’ feeling, 24-7. In fact, Mary’s life was pretty messy when you think about it. Who knows how her family was going to respond to the pregnancy! Who knows whether Joseph would stick with his fiancee!

But she still had hope and joy. Why? She knew that Christmas was ultimately about a rescue mission. God coming to us, not as a judge or moral guide, but as our Saviour. Mary’s song doesn’t tell us to just “Smile, ’cause it’s Christmas”. Instead it shows us where we can each find hope, even amongst the messy reality of our lives. Why not take some time this month to let the truths of this song surprise you?

So, this is Christmas.

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First published in the The Mail, Saturday 16th December 2018.