Dear Friends,

In recent years, commentators on the Premiership have become obsessed with statistics (please forgive a footballing analogy). When a player scores, we are told things like that it’s only the second time a Slovenian player has scored with his knee since 2011. In more recent years, there has been an increasing focus on the “assist”. Every goal must have both a goal scorer and another player who assists him. Where a defence splitting pass leaves the goal scorer with the simplest tap in, this seems entirely legitimate. However, bizarrely (and I’m not making this bit up even if the Slovenian player scoring with his knee may be a slight exaggeration), it also applies when a player passes it six inches to the man stood next to him who then runs 100 yards dribbling past 6 players including the goalkeeper in the process before scoring. I am sure the player in question is grateful for a statistic that records his contribution but will know in his heart that he added negligibly to the achievement.

This is probably a good way to regard any temptation we may have to imagine that we are really helping God out when we perform a good work. It is the equivalent of handing over the ball to the team’s star player and letting Him do the rest. He will gladly acknowledge our assist as long as we don’t get too carried away with where the real credit lies.

Rev Greg Smith

Rector of Pontesbury and Stiperstones