You used to be able to recognise football supporters at live matches or on television because of the banners or flags they carried or the scarf they wore. Apart form that it was quite possible to remain anonymous among a group of opposition fans because many people chose to wore nothing that would assign them to any particular side. Today, however, it seems that you're not a true fan if you don't arrive in your team's replica jersey, in addition to all the other bits of normal regalia. In fact, many fans have even invested in both home and away colours so that they can almost always be identified with their club, though first impressions often suggest that wearing the replica kit will be the closest any of them ever actually get to playing for their beloved team. Mind you, at over fifty pounds a time, it's not the cheapest way to support your team, especially when club jerseys can often be changed from one season to the next. And of course it's not just football where the jersey wearing ends for most avid rugby, gaelic and American football fans now can be seen decked out in the club colours and I suppose it does help to create some belonging to your team, though it's pretty hard to hide when they lose!In my own case, I limited myself to a replica All Black jersey a few years back and more recently acquired a lovely Wallabies tee shirt as a present from an Australian friend but I guess while I am as big a fan as any other for one or two teams, I just don't really wear my heart on my sleeve in the same way, or should that be on my jersey? Still when eldest son was old enough to understand that he could never support Manchester United and live happily, I had already arranged several Liverpool scarves around his neck and before long he was more than interested in the whole kit, probably, like most other lads, to wear at football practice after school. In the end I think he managed to stockpile five different jerseys over the years, two in the brilliant red home colours, bright yellow and dark green away kits and also another cream coloured shirt that was classified as being of a colour called ecru, that nobody much cared for. As he discovered the delights of rugby so his interest began to move towards the colours of far off shores and within a few seasons in his mid teens, he had amassed a couple of beautiful yellow and black Hurricanes jerseys and a an equally impressive red and black Crusaders top. There are still a few others hanging in his wardrobe, mainly bargains that he came across along the way and in some ways it is always nice to be identified with a team by wearing their colours.
However I reckon four jerseys mean more to him than any others partly because, in three of the cases he wore them while actually playing, so in every sense he was doing more than just supporting his team from the sidelines. The first, his white schools cup winning jersey with the school crest and his number nine on the back will always bring back happy memories for everyone in the family and it sits proudly along the school's jersey he wore for his province as they won the inter provincial title the following year. That success allowed him to pull on the green of his country at school level later in the season, when again the team triumphed over England, Wales and France and it's a jersey that I often still see him sporting, several years later. The fourth jersey is a beautiful blue shade with the French crest in place and it hangs in his room to remind him of that final victory over the Gallic nation that clinched the title, No doubt the jersey he wore that day is somewhere in a house in France, courtesy of the exchange that he made with a french school boy after the final whistle.
But here's the point. Not everyone who wears the jersey is playing the game. Jesus says something very interesting yet very solemn in Matthew ch 7, 'Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.' In effect it doesn't matter that we wear the Christian clothes, speak the Christian language, pray the Christian prayer, carry the Christian Bible and even do the good things expected of a Christian, for God doesn't judge us on such things, but only on whether we have believed on His Son and repented of our sin. Any athlete, rugby player or footballer doesn't earn the right to wear the jersey without hard work and training and no little sacrifice. You just don't become one by pulling on the jersey.Likewise you don't become a Christian by being in the right company or saying or doing the right things. In Matthew He continues, 'Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.' Listen, if your Christianity is something you can put on for special occasions but just as readily take it off when you want to, maybe you never really had the jersey in the first place. But it's never too late to wear it with pride.
