The worth of a man!

As I commented a few posts ago, I am not the world’s greatest fan of the so-called “beautiful game” – football (soccer as opposed to rugby or American). However, there are times when it provides some useful illustrations, and some thought-provoking stories.

I heard, this morning, on the radio, that Kaká – the highly successful Brazilian player – has been transferred from the Italian Club AC Milan to the Spain’s Real Madrid for a fee of around £59 million sterling!!

That is a great deal of money in anyone’s terms, and begs the question “What is a man worth?” The old ballad of The king and the abbot, in which an abbot (or, in some versions, bishop!) is required, on pain of death, to answer three questions put to him by the king, offers one medieval solution. One of those questions is “How much am I worth?” The abbot is perplexed by all three questions and asks for three days grace. This is granted, and as the abbot journeys, he meets a shepherd (or his younger brother) who enquires as to the reason for his downcast look. On being thus informed, he offers to take the place of the abbot and returns to the king, to whom he answers that question with the words “Judas sold Christ for thirty pieces of silver. You are worth almost as much as Christ. You are worth twenty-nine pieces of silver.”

£59 million; 29 pieces of silver. Quite a difference! So what is a man worth? The shepherd was, at least, on the right lines for, according to the teaching of Christianity, each one of us is worth the very life of the Lord Jesus. It was for each one of us that He allowed His blood to be shed. That not only places all of us at the same level, but also shows that we are of infinite worth to a loving, and caring, God.

But back to Kaká! I understand that this is a young man who knows that his real worth is not measured by the size of a football club transfer fee. This is a young man who is totally open about his personal faith in the Lord Jesus. He is a member of the organisation ‘Athletes of Christ’; he celebrates the scoring of a goal by pointing to the sky as a gesture of thanks to God; his favourite book is the Bible; his favourite music is Gospel; and he is a United Nations ‘Ambassador against hunger’ for the UN World Food Programme.

It is highly unlikely that I will ever play on a football pitch beside Kaká. But, praise God, I will be beside him in glory as together, and with countless others, we glorify the Lamb who was slain. Will you be there with us?