RWC (8)

Well, the Rugby World Cup is over. Most of the world does not care, but the people of New Zealand are happy, because their team beat France to win the final last night.

Everyone now claims that the tournament was a huge success. I call this feel-good economics. If it feels good, it must have been an economic success. The dodgy cost-benefit exercises are now forgotten. The millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money that the government poured into the organisation of the event are now forgotten. The extra millions that had to be spent at the last minute to solve unexpected transport and event centre problems does not matter. The fact that the government is running a budget deficit and had to borrow the money to pay for hosting the cup is irrelevant. We all feel good, so the event was an economic success.

This is like the person who mortgaged his house and spent a month on the best luxury cruise that money can buy. He felt great while he was cruising the Mediterranean, but when he got home he still had a huge debt that he could not afford to repay, and interest payments to make each month. This is feel-good economics at its best.

Another example of people seeing what they want to see was the game last night. The French team was mediocre. They played with passion, but they lacked attacking force. Yet, the New Zealand team really struggled to beat them and at the end of the game, there was only one point between the two teams. If the French kicker had not been injured, his team might have won the game.

This morning the news media are telling a different story. The was a superb win over a magnificent opposition. The coaches are the best ever. The players were all brilliant. New Zealand played courageously and deserved to win.

I don’t know what game the reporters who write these things were watching. In the game that I saw, the New Zealand team played was an embarrassment. They fumbled the ball, threw aimless passes, kicked aimless high kicks, missed important tackles and missed kicks at goal. These mistakes constantly let their French back into the game. The New Zealand tactics seemed to be wrong, with the backs constantly charging at gaps that were not there, then losing the ball. Early in the second half, the coaches panicked and substituted some key players. This seemed to destroy the team’s cohesion, and the lineout and scrum became even more fragile. Up until the last two minutes, the French could easily have turned the score around. The New Zealand players were hugely relieved when they finally won by one point.

Actually, I do know what game the reporters were watching. They were watching the game that New Zealanders wanted to see, and they reported on that game. The people of New Zealander believed that they had the best team at the tournament and would easily win the final. We were robbed at the last few tournaments, so we deserved to win this one. Unfortunately, a bumbling performance did not fit with this narrative, so the news media gave New Zealand the story they want to hear, and now everyone is happy.

RWC (7) - Idol

All peoples have their idols. Rugby has become a dominant idol in New Zealand. For many people, winning the Rugby World Cup is the most important thing that could happen to New Zealand.

I have always believed that this idol will have to be humbled before New Zealand can see a real revival. It will be interesting to see whether our rugby idol will be humbled, or deliver our hope.

RWC (6) - Room for Everyone

A teacher once said that the good thing about a rugby team is that there is room for every boy. The short chubby boys can be props. The tool skinny guys can be locks. The short skinny boy can be put at halfback. The fast skinny boys can play as wings. The good kicker can play at flyhalf. The boy who can tackle, but cannot kick can play in the centers.

For a rugby team to play well, every boy must be in his place, and do what he is good at.

This makes a rugby team a good image for the body of Jesus. Everyone can belong to the body. There is a place whether every person fits and is needed. The body functions best, when the different members work together in different ways for a common purpose.

RWC (5) - Nationalism

The RWC us a festival of nationalism. I dislike nationalism. I consider it to be one of the most evil forces at work in the modern world. Most modern wars have been driven by a nationalistic belligerence. Terrible deeds have been done in the name of a nation.

Nations are relatively modern invention, as five hundred years ago they did not exist. People lived in villages and their main loyalty was to their family and broader tribe. They might be loyal to a local leader who provided protection, but that loyalty only lasted as long as protection. Since urbanisation has broken down these local, nationalism has provided a less meaningful substitute for real communities.

Nationalism does not provide much, as it is a poor substitute for real community. On the other hand, it demands a lot. During peacetime, it demands taxation to support national goals. It also demands support for the national sports teams. During wartime, it demands commitment and death for the national cause.

The emergence of nationalism was driven by national political leaders. They needed to create a bond that would enable them to hold diverse and disparate people together under their rule. Nationalism filled the bill.

Nations are artificial entities created for political purposes. Membership of a nation is actually defined by submission to political powers. The modern nation state needs this loyalty to survive. Without nationalism, modern nation states would not exist.

Nations have no place in the Kingdom of God. They create loyalties that are false. They divide groups of people apart on the basis of differences that are not real.. Our loyalty is to the Kingdom of God, not to a nation, or race. As the Kingdom of God emerges, the barriers between nations will become irrelevant. The only division will be between those who are in the Kingdom and those who are not.

I can understand why the people of the world cling to these loyalties, but Christians are citizens Kingdom of God. Our main allegiance must be to our king. We should also have an allegiance to our families to the part of the body of Christ that supports us, but in the Kingdom of God, “there is neither Greek nor Jew” (Col 3:11). That means there are no Australians and no New Zealanders in the Kingdom of God. When we become citizens of the kingdom, loyalty to a nation is made irrelevant.

War is the best tool for strengthening nationalistic fervour, as people get pushed together by fear of a common enemy. During peacetime, international sport fills the same role.

International Sport is the maidservant of Nationalism.
Nationalism is the cheerleader for Totalitarian Democracy.

RWC (2) - Little Brother

Rugby brings out a strange side of the New Zealand character. We seem to have a “little brother” attitude that shapes our thinking and behaviour. A little brother often has an unhealthy need to beat his older brother at something. Efforts to beat an older brother cannot lead to fulfilment. They are often destructive, because they distract little brother from becoming the person that he is meant to be.

In New Zealand, this little brother attitude creates a need to take on much bigger nations and prove that we are better than them. We were taught at school that during the two world wars, New Zealand soldiers were better than the Australian, British and American soldiers that fought alongside them (a dubious honour, if it was true). These days, the “small brother” insecurity mostly manifests through sport. We want to win the Rugby World Cup to prove that can be as good as other nations, despite our small size. The odd thing about this desire to be the best in the world is that only few nations play rugby, so winning the Rugby World Cup does not prove anything.

God has a purpose for New Zealand, and it is not to be the greatest rugby nation in the world. God wants to establish his Kingdom here, so we can be a light to the nations. We will only find peace as a people, when we fulfil that calling. Unfortunately, the desire to prove we the best in the world at Rugby is distracting us from our true calling, so even if we do win we will not be satisfied. Instead of trying to prove ourselves to the world, we should focus on being the people that God has called us to be.

RWC (2) - Cost Benefit

The New Zealand government has contributed millions of the cost of running this international event. As always happens when the hosting of an international event is being considered, they trotted out several economists with claims that the return to the country (whatever that means) will be far greater than the money spent by the government. These economists try to out do each other, as if producing a bigger number confirms their superior understanding of the economy. Of course, they have a good incentive to produce a good numbers, so they will be paid to make estimates in the future.

These numbers are just guesses. They leave out many of the real costs and ignore most of the opportunity costs. However, they cannot be proved wrong, because the impact on an economy of an international sporting event cannot be accurately measured.

Some businesses in the hospitality and tourist sectors will gain huge benefit, but I would be surprised if the Rugby World Cup brings lasting long-term benefit to the economy. The stadiums that have been built or extended represent capital that may never be fully utilised again, but local communities will be paying off the loans for the next twenty years.

RWC (1)

Most of the world has not noticed, but the Rugby World Cup is being hosted in New Zealand over the next month. Rugby football is only played seriously in a handful of nations, so this not truly a world scale event. Some of the countries represented, like Georgia, have only a small number of rugby players. In others, like the United Sates, rugby is a trivial minority sport.

I am not a rugby enthusiastic, so it might be a long month.