You don't have to be a football fan to be aware of the hottest football news of this summer as it has been in all the media. It is of course the transfer of Brazilian superstar Neymar from Barcelona to Paris Saint Germain (PSG) for the princely sum of £198 million pounds.
On top of the transfer fee PSG will have to stump up Neymar's salary + add on's + tax which gives a sum over 5 years of approx £450 million. This not only beats the previous record of Paul Pogba to Manchester United into second place, but smashes it into oblivion.
As I watched this eye watering transfer unfold in the media I was incredulous. Along with many other people I was gob smacked. Is Neymar really worth that much? Then in the back of my mind a question was raised - How do you measure worth?
To most of us it seems obvious that doctors, nurses and teachers etc have more inherent worth than footballers, and even as a life long football fan I am inclined to think that way. But clearly PSG think differently. To them footballers are worth more than doctors etc as I bet that their medical team get paid a fraction of what Neymar earns
So am I right or are PSG? How do we measure worth? Is there a coherent way of measuring worth? Are some people worth more than others and if so why?
If doctors are worth more than footballers then is our worth dependent on what we do? Does our job or lack of one dictate our worth? Certainly if the media presents the truth then some politicians think like that as 'contributing to society' ie paying taxes and not claiming benefits, seems of utmost importance to them. In other words are those who get on in the world worth more than those who don't?
I don't agree with this thinking. The bible does teach the importance of work, but it doesn't teach that our value comes from this. If it did then it would mean that the old, the handicapped and the low paid would be worth little or nothing and that is not what I read in my bible.
There has to be a better way of measuring worth and indeed we find it in that well known bible passage John 3 v 16
'For God so loved the world that He gave His one & only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.'
Everyone wants to matter, and this passage tells us that we all matter to God and crucially equally. So are you worth the same as Neymar? Of course you are, as I am. We are worth the life of Jesus Christ.
