Flop!

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By Isaac Tan, 20, Singapore

One point was all England took with them after their first match with the United States of America. Many had expected the match to spearhead a glorious goal for gold for the English; it was sadly not the case.
Goalkeeper Robert Green, 30, was short of a textbook save that left the English with a measly draw. The West Ham United goalie became the talk of the town as fans were in uproar due to his flop.

Interestingly, it seemed that all of the team’s inability to capitalize on the game became one man’s fault. All of a sudden, football doesn’t seem to be much of a team sport huh?

Man’s effort to play the blame game is not new. Genesis records the first fall of Man in chapter three. Man was instructed not to eat of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But as the story goes, Man failed God and disobeyed Him.

In the cool of the day, the Lord God walked through the garden in search of Man and Woman who were hiding in shame of their nakedness and their sin.

Genesis 3:9-13
Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid.
I was afraid because I was naked.”
“Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked.
“Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me
who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
Then the LORD God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

Notice the conversation clearly. The Lord God, in His omniscience already knew what had happened. However, Adam and Eve when questioned did not answer honestly. Instead they played the blame game.

Adam started by blaming God for putting the Woman in the garden. It was the Woman that stumbled him. And the Woman in turn blamed the serpent for her disobedience.

Doesn’t it sound all too familiar? Our instant human reaction when confronted of our sin is to blame someone or something else. Yet, we know that somewhere inside, we are at fault too.

If you for a moment assume that you would have responded differently as compared to Adam and Eve, think again. Will changing England’s keeper confirm them of the World Cup? How sure are we that Joe Hart or David James would not have flopped too?

“When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned… For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:12 & 15b).

The very fact that Man sinned warrants the need for a Savior. We cannot save ourselves. But all thanks belong to God who before the creation of time had set in place a salvation plan to redeem us.

So, though Green’s mistake was one that brought about great misfortune for the English team, will it change if Capello makes the switch? Only time will tell for this World Cup. But I am glad that there is at least one thing that is for certain: Jesus Christ has already saved me and He is coming again!