October 2026-‘Superstition ain't the way’

On the day of the football World Cup Semi-Final I found myself watching a pre-match press conference with the England manager Thomas Tuchel. He was quizzed about his team selection. Naturally he was holding his cards close to his chest. He was asked about his team's strip colour. That was an easy one to field. One reporter however, reading the room a little, sought to lighten the mood. He asked Tuchel if he had any pre-match rituals.

‘I have my superstitious routines. I will not tell you because another superstition of mine is that if I tell you it will not work.’ 1

It transpires that the first rule of a superstition club is that you don’t talk about superstition clubs. Given how the game played out perhaps he should have concentrated more on his substitutions than his superstitions. Don’t cry for me Argentina. 

A Revealing Trait

Tuchel’s answer got me thinking. Isn’t it interesting that in our Western materialistic world people still talk like that? In one sense it’s a textbook example of cognitive dissonance whereby people attempt to try and hold two competing beliefs together. Either what you can see is all there is or there is something more. A classic case of people desiring to have their naturalist cake and eat it. 

However, perhaps there is a deeper reason that explains this phenomenon. There is little doubt that the right to choose is one of the most prized ideals of our generation. It often masquerades as personal autonomy. However, my contention is that if you peel away the veneer, I think superstition reveals that innate human desire to want to control the uncontrollable. Given how scary, painful and unpredictable life can be at times it’s little wonder that people will do anything to take back even a slither of the illusion of control. 

A Connecting Point

That truth presents the believer with a wonderful opportunity to compassionately connect our Christian faith to the world of our friends and family. Control is something for which they are longing to have but just can’t get. Let’s think about good open questions to ask. What is it about tomorrow that makes them nervous? What would make the future worth it? How much of life is actually completely outwith our control? My friend Dan Strange insightfully suggests that;

‘We come as those offering answers to questions they are already answering, offering an exchange for religious commitments they already have, and offering a way to mend a relationship with God they are already in.’2

Ultimately however, what we are offering to people is not a better way to get control, but rather, an introduction to the one who is in total control. 

An Assuring Truth

However, control is also a question that the believer can find themselves wrestling with when life feels like its spinning away from us. When that’s the case, there’s no better place to camp out than in the encounter that Jesus had with his disciples in Mark 4:35-41. The disciples are stranded out on the lake and in the middle of a furious squall. You always know it’s an emergency when the professionals begin to panic. Here are seasoned fisherman who have found themselves, metaphorically and literally, out of their depth. They wake Jesus who speaks to creation and restores calm. It’s no longer water that’s filling the boat but awe and fear. I’m sure the disciples learnt in that moment that in the middle of the storm there’s no better place to be than near the one who controls the wind and the waves.

There’s wonderful solace to be found in the truth that Jesus our Good Shepherd hasn’t changed. He doesn’t want us to grasp for control but rather to take his hand and trust that he alone is. That of course would be potentially terrifying news if it weren’t for the fact that he loves us and has paid the blood-bought price of the cross to redeem us for himself.

Charles Spurgeon put it so well;

“The sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which the child of God rests his head at night, giving perfect peace.”

——————-

1  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7gioZnzi0MQ?app=desktop&ra=m

2 Making Faith Magnetic, Dan Strange.