It's becoming normal to have God in a squad

'We don't do God,' Alastair Campbell famously interjected when Tony Blair, as prime minister, was once asked about his faith. British sport has never really done God, either.

Historically, many British players and coaches have lacked the confidence of, say, their Brazilian peers to openly wear their faith on their T-shirts or even talk about Jesus Christ.

Yet, the landscape appears to be changing. This summer's coverage of the Euros and the Paris Olympics revealed many athletes and coaches articulating the importance of Christian faith in their personal and professional lives.

Sport is increasingly emulating and sometimes leading the cultural encouragement to be more open about how we face life's challenges. It is becoming increasingly standard for Gen Z athletes to be candid about their Christian faith on social media.

Amid initial excitement, this also raises a new set of challenges. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ entails more than expressing one's feelings online.

For high-profile elites, significant personal and professional challenges require the unwavering support of a good church. Yet, in some global tour sports like tennis, golf, track and field, and F1 racing, competitors can travel away from home for up to eight months a year, making it impossible to regularly attend a good local church. This situation calls for our empathy and understanding.

Attending church most Sundays is viable for UK team-based athletes and coaches. Yet, the more famous these people are, the harder it is to avoid being asked to discuss their performance at 'work' in Saturday's match. Typically, the main thing an athlete or coach wants to do at church on Sunday is rest from thinking about the pressures of their day job in sport and enjoy corporate worship.

Behind the excitement of the growing number of elite athletes professing faith online is something that hasn't changed in the world of elite competition: Sport is a performance industry.

Pivotal to developing Christian discipleship is the need to engender assurance of divine love in a job that can bring intolerable expectations, harsh judgments, brutal short-termism, and fear of being dropped or dismissed. God's love serves as a comforting reassurance in the face of such challenges.

Elite athletes and coaches must know that their value is not conditional on performance. They need to appreciate that a person's worth is not predicated on whether they win or lose. With a complete and ongoing understanding of grace with commensurate gratitude, elite performers can develop a perspective on life that rests in Christ and transcends the need for public affirmation.

The profession of Christian faith is becoming an increasingly popular phenomenon in elite sport. It's a good time to reflect on what we can do to nurture athletes and coaches in Christian discipleship that lasts way beyond the Instagram story and the post-match interview.