Garmin’s Warning—and a Psalm’s Answer

Quite often I glance at my Garmin watch simply to check the time, only for it to insist on telling me something else.

And so it was on Wednesday evening as I watched the England v Argentina semi-final. How long could we hold out? What was the time?

But Garmin had other ideas:“Try to relax!”

Then came: “8.30 pm — 1 hr 48 mins.” My digital adviser was informing me that, since 8.30 pm, I had been showing elevated stress for about one hour and 48 minutes.

Then: “–13.” This was the estimated benefit to my overall daily stress score if I could reduce my stress during this period. It is not a medical measurement, merely part of Garmin’s wellness scoring.

Finally came a word of advice:

“Periods of stress like this before bedtime can affect sleep.”

My guess is that Garmin would have offered the same counsel to much of the nation. England’s defeat has certainly been widely, perhaps excessively, covered in the media.

It is strange how football brings us together. No doubt, had we reached the final — and notice my use of the first-person plural — much of England would have resembled a ghost town. And this in an age of hyper-individualism, when so many of us live our own private lives in increasing isolation from one another.

What is even more remarkable is that we come together as a nation at a time when patriotism is derided by many, certainly among the intellectual elite. I recall how some members of our congregation regularly complained that we sang the National Anthem at the conclusion of our parade services, even though, if you think about it, it is a prayer.

But this is how God has made us: to belong. And, even more, to belong to a nation, a tribe or whatever grouping holds us together.

Reading the Psalms each day certainly gives this perspective, as God is praised for calling his people to be his own: “Know that the LORD is God.It is he who made us, and we are his;we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”(Psalm 100:3)

We see this dynamic throughout the Bible. I choose to follow Christ as a free-standing individual; no one else can make that decision for me. But once I belong to him, I also belong to his people. I become part of the fellowship of believers, the Body of Christ.

As Timothy Keller puts it, “The gospel creates a whole new community. It makes us members of one another.”

Quite simply, that is how God has made us. It is this deep-seated longing to belong that lies behind my support for the England football team. It is, of course, only a faint echo of the fellowship we find in Christ, but it is strong enough for my Garmin watch to tell me that watching England has significantly raised my stress level.

However, there is a downside, as shown by the nationalistic furore after the match. Such feelings can so easily turn nasty; indeed, they often do.

There is one remarkable psalm which is frequently overlooked: Psalm 87. It begins with praise of Jerusalem as the city founded by God, with verse 3 inspiring John Newton’s famous hymn:“Glorious things are spoken of you,  O city of God."

Then comes a list of Israel’s historic enemies: “Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; Philistia too, and Tyre, with Ethiopia.” We expect a word of condemnation, perhaps even a prediction of their destruction for all the harm and hurt they have inflicted upon God’s people.

But no. The psalm concludes:

“‘This one was born there,’ they say.And of Zion it shall be said,‘This one and that one were born in it’;for the Most High himself will establish it.The Lord records, as he registers the peoples,‘This one was born there.’”(verses 4–6)

What an extraordinary vision. The outsiders, even former enemies, are no longer treated as strangers. God gives them full citizenship of his city: “This one was born there.” They do not merely visit Jerusalem or receive reluctant permission to remain; they belong there as completely as those born within its walls.

This is where Christian belonging differs from the nationalism which can so easily become ugly. Nationalism too often establishes our identity by deciding who is not one of us. The gospel creates a people by welcoming those who once stood outside.

In Christ, as Paul writes, there is “neither Jew nor Gentile”. The barriers of race, nation and social standing are no longer allowed to determine our worth or our place among God’s people.

So I shall continue to say “we” when England play, and no doubt my Garmin will continue to warn me about the consequences. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the passing fellowship of a football crowd or taking pride in our country. The danger comes when we make that belonging ultimate.

For Christians, our deepest loyalty lies elsewhere. We belong to a city whose gates God has thrown open to every nation, including those whom we may regard as rivals or enemies.

And there, wonderfully, God registers each one of us by name: “This one was born there.”