You may have noticed that more and more of your neighbors are talking about soccer these days—and with good reason! The 23rd FIFA World Cup Men’s Soccer Championships are being held at various venues all across America, resulting in over one million people from multiple countries coming here to watch their national teams play.
It’s been great to see how fans encourage their teams. I still have fond memories of my days as a “soccer dad” cheering on my son Zach when he played for his high school, eventually leading them all the way to the state championship game his Senior year. The fans of soccer, both locally and internationally, play a huge role in helping to propel their team to victory courtesy of their enthusiastic cheering and boisterous singing in the stands.
And the fans who have ventured to the United States to cheer on their side are no exception. We are seeing a lot of different ways fans are celebrating their respective countries. For Americans, I love that a well-known American tune first popularized by John Denver, “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” has emerged an unofficial anthem for the American team, and now even some European fans have adopted it as well. Perhaps it is a reflection of a yearning for more community and simpler times.
But something else is also taking place that appears to be an educational moment.
European fans who have traveled to the United States for the first time to watch the matches are posting on social media that they are seeing an America they did not expect.
They are astonished at how welcoming Americans are.
They rave about our food. (And they can’t believe restaurants give you free items with your meal!)
And they are shocked that everyone has air conditioning, which is not widespread in Europe.
Others have been astonished by our patriotism and our over-the-top love of country. The globalists of Europe have tried to smother that in many countries of the European Union. But they see here in America that patriotism is clearly encouraged. They are shocked when military aircraft overfly a stadium with their roaring jet engines as thousands of people cheer, “USA! USA!”
In interviews, many of these European fans are reaching the same conclusion: “I’ve been lied to,” they say, by their leaders and the leftist European media about what America is really like.
What irony! These tourists are falling in love with America at the same time that many American leftists are telling pollsters that they themselves don’t love America at all.
I encourage you to watch these online videos of foreigners reacting to America during the World Cup. You can’t help seeing their reactions and not feel better about our own country. Those visitors will go home and tell their friends and neighbors not to believe everything they read and hear about America.
In the end, these foreign tourists come from countries that are drifting toward the same kind of socialism and Marxism that many Democrats want to impose here. But isn’t it encouraging that there is still somewhere free to go where men and women can experience what true liberty looks like.
The momentum that political socialists have in America right now is astonishing. It would be a tragedy if we went down the same road of smothering government controls over economic and social policy that are crushing Europe and making these visitors yearn for America.
If you plan on visiting one of the World Cup matches in the coming days, all of us at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute urge you to engage with these avid soccer fans and join them in their celebrations. But as they are experiencing our food and hospitality, let’s be sure they also see our Christian faith, too. Many Christians get uncomfortable when it comes to sharing our faith. But the World Cup atmosphere makes it easy to share your love of Christ with our guests. They are asking questions: “Why is America like this? Why do I feel so much at home? What else do Americans do?”
Tell them about our faith in Jesus Christ, and that our country was built on the idea that liberty comes from God. Tell them that all men, no matter what country they live in, bear the image of the Creator of the world. If you meet them while they are visiting local restaurants and other attractions, invite them to your church. Many of these foreign visitors have seen the American soccer team engage in open expressions of their Christian faith. They may ask you about that. In a moment like that, remember the words of 1 Peter 3:15:
“Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, . . . “
A lot of secular people from socialist or Marxist countries may feel an emptiness that is not only economic but spiritual as well. Some might even be brought to Christ if our hospitality extends beyond food and into faith. America is truly an exceptional nation. We have brought more freedom and prosperity to more people than any nation in history. It’s our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution that inspires freedom around the world. When there are pro-democracy demonstrations in other countries, they don’t wave the Swedish flag or the Chinese flag or the Colombian flag. They wave our flag—the American flag.
Too often we take our freedom and liberty for granted. We become complacent and assume America will always be America. But as President Ronald Reagan famously warned, freedom is fragile and “never more than one generation away from extinction.” We must protect and defend our freedom.
As Christian citizens, we will have the opportunity to do just that later this year. We must rise to the occasion. In the meantime, we here at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute will continue to encourage and equip you as we “fight the good fight” for faith, family and freedom.
