How do NRL football heroes treat little people?

Written by Al Stewart, Sydney Director of City Bible Forum

It’s over 20 years since I arrived on my first training night, as Chaplain to the Sydney City Roosters Rugby League football team. I was to be the little baldy-headed chaplain, sitting quietly in the corner of a dressing room with around 40 graded Rugby League footballers. A room in which the testosterone could be touched in the air.

I’d been nervous but there was one thing I’d been looking forward to that day. It would be my opportunity to meet my boyhood hero: Jack Gibson. In 1992, Jack Gibson was a Rugby League legend (and still is for those who are old enough to remember). Jack was the Super Coach: he’d won 5 premierships and coached State of Origin [1]. As a boy in high school I’d watched him commentate on televised football games. All this, and he was ‘laugh out loud’ funny in his commentary on the game and on life in general.

So on Night 1 at training, nervous, unsure where I was going, I walked by the door of the kitchen near the dressing rooms. Jack Gibson stepped into the doorway. Mr Gibson was 6’2” and on the step above me, he filled the door. He looked down at me with poker face, raised an eyebrow and asked calmly,

“Who are you?”
I stammered, “I’m, I’m the new chaplain, um …Jack.”
The poker face remained in place.
“Well the last bloke didn’t get too many scalps around here!”, smirked Jack with a wink.

As chaplain, I expected to be bottom of the food chain at the club, and in many ways I was. Many of the players didn’t know, or care, how to relate to me. The officials treated me well but were also unsure what to “do with me”. But Jack went out of his way to make me feel welcome. He always spoke to me when he saw me. He made a donation to my church to help cover the cost of me attending training and games. He even came as my guest to a Men’s Dinner at my church!

It’s a great thing to meet your boyhood hero and not be disappointed. Jack Gibson was a big man in every way [2]. You can tell a lot about a man by how they treat the little people, the unimportant people. Let me share about another man who is a hero of mine: Jesus. You can tell a lot about Jesus by how he treated people.

Jesus was courageous in how he stood up to the political and religious leaders of the day, in public debate and questioning. But personally I find it even greater how he treated the little people of his day. In the midst of being overwhelmed by the crowds and celebrity status, he had time for beggars, widows and the crippled: the invisible people. He would stop a whole crowd of people and wait for a sick woman he needed to speak to, or a beggar who had called out to him. He stretched out his hand to touch a leper and heal him.

“While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.”
Luke 5:12-13

Jesus explained his own mission:

“For even the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:45

Ultimately his love for the lost meant that he gave his life for the spiritually sick and spiritually weak: which includes us all.

His example of concern for the poor, the weak, the marginalised: has had a massive effect on the value system of the Western world. Social welfare, charities and medical care have flowed from a Christian worldview.

In the New Testament – Luke (the author of Luke’s Gospel) is a doctor. He has a heart for the marginalised, the poor, the weak, the sick. Luke shows us Jesus’ love for people and his power at work to bring healing, hope and forgiveness before God. Luke’s Gospel is a remarkable portrait of this remarkable man, who offers forgiveness and hope to all.

Contact us to find out more about forgiveness and hope.

Read another City Bible Forum blog about Faith in Sport.

What’s On at the Forum in Sydney.

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[1] Jack Gibson won premierships with Eastern Suburbs (now the Sydney City Roosters) in 1974-75 and with Parramatta in 1981-83. He had also been the State of Origin coach in 1989. He’d brought many innovations to training as well: video, weights training improvements etc.
[2] Sadly, Jack Gibson died in 2008 aged 79.
Image courtesy: The Roar