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At the time of writing this the Football World Cup has begun and the church youth group have selected players from the different teams to form their own fantasy teams. For the uninitiated the principle is that players are allocated a points value and you are given a points value with which to put together a team with players of your choice. Their performances in the tournament earn points for the team. It's fun but it also got me thinking that you could put together a team of people featured in the Bible. So here's my Biblical Fantasy Football Team.
Goalkeeper. It had to be Jesus. He's the one who saves and, as goalkeeper, He gets to wear the "No 1" shirt. He's also the Captain.
Full backs. Thinking about England full backs like Norman "Bite Yer Legs" Hunter and Stuart "Psycho" Pearce they have to play with a lot of zeal so I thought about James and John - the Boanerges or Sons of Thunder (Mark 3v17). Sounds just about right.
Central Defenders. The best partnerships are often someone big, wholehearted and effective with an intelligent, skilful "flair" player. I thought Barnabas would be a good choice. His real name was Joses but he was named Barnabus which can be translated "Son of Encouragement" (Acts 4v36) - someone to spur on other players. My other central defender would be Solomon. Wise, cunning, able to outwit opposing players. He'd also be great to send out to the press conference to deal with awkward questions.
Midfield. A player with vision for creating openings...Daniel. Looks after his diet too (Daniel ch1 v12). A midfield 'anchor' man...Job. He'd had everything thrown at him but still stayed faithful (Job ch1 v20-22). Someone with pace and stamina...Elijah. So fit that he overtook Ahab (1 Kings ch18 v46). A midfield organizer? Every squad should have a controversial selection so I'm going for Adam. Yes, sin entered the world through his disobedience so he could be said to be the baddest of bad boys - but did he repent? The Bible seems to be silent on the matter, but Adam begot the 'Godly' line through Seth and he was still alive up until Lamech and a great grandfather to Enoch, who walked with God (Genesis ch5 v23). Maybe he'll be in heaven? Anyway he must have been a very capable person to look after the massive garden of Eden so he's selected.
Attack. I'm going for David. Gutsy and not afraid of big defenders - like Goliath. I imagine him to be smallish but quick and nimble - a bit like Michael Owen of England. He deserves a big, strong partner so I'm going for Samson. I know he had women trouble and was a bit impetuous, but his incredible effort at the end of his life earns him a place in the side.
The back room team. I decided that the apostle Paul would be risky as a player given his 'thorn in the flesh' injury (2 Corinthians ch12 v7-10) so he can be manager. It did remind me that the team would need a physio and I need look no further than the apostle Luke, the physician.
Before you think me simply irreverent, there was an over-riding thought that came into all these imaginings. The team I selected , Jesus excepted (He is perfect!), were all individually great - but had shortcomings. Would they function as a team? Would there be disputes amongst them? Would they be blaming each other for mistakes or arguing over strategy and tactics? Jesus took a widely disparate group of people to function as his disciples. God takes an equally great delight in putting Christians together who, naturally speaking, would get on each other's nerves. Somewhere in it all we have to perform as a team. If that means giving way on my opinions in order to accommodate another's, or indeed to avoid offending them...then that is a sacrifice that has to be made.