With the England football team through to the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time in 28 years, it seems that their manager can do no wrong. In fact, his character as a thoroughly kind and decent bloke is shining through, and the hashtag GarethSouthgateWould is trending on social media. My personal favourite is that Gareth Southgate Would ‘pipette feed an injured baby bird, day and night, until it was strong enough to fly back into the wild. Then leave seeds out in winter and gaze through the window smiling, sipping on hot chocolate, as the same bird returns to collect food for its family’.
While the nation’s current love affair with Southgate will surely fade in time, we are for the moment inspired and impressed by a man who is clearly a wonderful role model to his team and to some extent at least has shaped them in his own image.
Someone else who inspired and impressed, and who sought to shape people in his own image was of course Jesus Christ, who in turn revealed the perfect image of a loving God. In fact, he made such an enormous and long-lasting impression that even after 2,000 years people are still regularly asking themselves the question in any given situation ‘What would Jesus do?’