The Ronaldo Effect

What worshippers of Jesus can learn from worshippers of Ronaldo

When you walk across a street in any town or city or India, you're very likely to see barber shops with Christiano Ronaldo's face on the poster. This is a marketing strategy that works in India because many people want to have the hairstyle that Ronaldo has. They want to look like Ronaldo. The desire to look like Ronaldo does not stop with the hairstyle alone. Many who play football try to copy his style of celebration (siuuuuuu). They try and copy his moves — the way he plays. They want to look, and in fact, be like Christiano Ronaldo.

Christiano Ronaldo is adored by many people in the country. They see him day after day in Instagram reels and YouTube shorts. They watch matches in which he plays, staying up late into the night to do so. They sacrifice sleep and rest so they don't miss matches in which Ronaldo is playing. They want to see Ronaldo more and more.

When Ronaldo wins a game or scores a goal, his fans (worshippers) do not materially gain anything. And yet, their joy is genuine. They identify with Ronaldo so much that Ronaldo's victory becomes their own victory. When Ronaldo's team wins a match, they say "We won," not "They won." Because they worship Ronaldo, they want Ronaldo to be victorious.

Whenever Ronaldo scores a goal or wins a match, fans of Ronaldo often share clips of the victory (or the goal) on social media. They want others to see the greatness of Ronaldo. They want Ronaldo to be adored by others as well. They want the world to see the awesomeness (glory) of their idol (Ronaldo).

When you worship someone, you want to see more of them — you're never tired of seeing them. You want to look like them. You identify yourself with them so much so that their victory is your victory, and so you seek their victorious kingdom. You want the world to see the awesomeness of the object of your worship, and so you share the evidence of that awesomeness through various means.

If all this is true, what would it mean for me to worship Jesus? It would mean I never tire of seeing Jesus — I want to see more and more of him. The channel through which I can see him is the Bible. And so I never tire of seeing Jesus in the Bible. Worshipping Jesus would mean I long to look like him more and more — to be Christ-like as the Apostle Paul put it. I would seek to imitate Jesus in my life. Worshipping Jesus would mean I identify with Jesus so much that his victory is my victory. I need not materially gain anything when Jesus is made much of for my joy to be real because his victory would be a reward in itself. And worshipping Jesus would mean that I want the whole world to know how awesome Jesus is. So I share the evidence of his goodness and awesomeness with the world around me.