When Harry Kane accepted the Ballon d’Or with grace, gratitude and disarming humility, writes Tim Bechervaise, he reminded the world that the qualities which draw us to truly great people are the very same virtues at the heart of the Christian life – and that makes him a good role model for our children to look up to.
Tottenham Hotspur fans like me don’t have many things to cheer about, but this week we did. Not only did the team win at Chelsea (an extremely rare occurrence), but Harry Kane was voted the best footballer in the world by winning the coveted Ballon d’Or on Monday night in London.
True, Harry Kane no longer plays for Spurs, but given that he grew up in our academy (after being rejected by North London rivals Arsenal, no less, when he was aged eight), he’s hailed from the terraces as “one of our own”. When he took to the stage this week to accept his award, it was a heartening moment for all involved with Tottenham, particularly as he thanked the club in his acceptance speech.
But what’s been striking this week — and indeed in recent years, as he’s grown into his role as England captain — is how much the wider public is taking to Harry Kane, not only as a footballer but, more importantly, as a person.
The everyday footballer
In many ways, Harry Kane is not your archetypal global, world-class superstar. He’s the everyday footballer. And that’s what endears him to people.
He shuns the limelight, is married to his childhood sweetheart Kate and has relatively modest sponsorship deals. During the summer World Cup, when England reached the semi-finals, he wasn’t England’s poster boy (that was David Beckham), and his Instagram following amounts to half that of Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and a seventh of that of his Ballon d’Or rival, Kylian Mbappé. Unlike many of his contemporaries, his football skills come more from nurture than nature, with the emphasis on sheer hard work. As England captain, he leads by example as opposed to charisma. Even when he’s been mocked, including for the way he speaks, he’s risen above it and let his football do the talking.
Tying all of this together is a humility that is not feigned but richly authentic — a rare commodity among those in the public eye.
This affable nature was beautifully portrayed in his acceptance speech, which could have been summed up in two words: thank you. Starting with Spurs coach Bradley Allen, he listed a litany of people whom he credits with helping him reach the top. His success is their success. His voice breaks as he finishes by thanking his parents, children and wife. Even his evident nerves add to his warmth.
He also honed in on the importance of hard graft and overcoming rejection. “Anything is possible with hard work, when no one else is watching, to go through the ups and downs, to learn through resilience,” he said.
Tying all of this together is a humility that is not feigned but richly authentic — a rare commodity among those in the public eye. This was picked up in a column by Shane Watson in The Times, who wrote: “He’s Humble Harry because he’s the opposite of flash, uninterested in personal glory, modest in manner. Given his record and the profession he’s in, it’s really nothing short of remarkable.”
Something of Jesus in Kane
So, what does all this have to do with Jesus and our children?
The first thing to say is that Harry Kane, as far as we know, is not a Christian. Or, if he is, it’s something he keeps very private.
But there is something very Christian — Christ-like, even — about the qualities he shows. And what’s been so noticeable this week is that it’s these things that endear him to people. Gratitude, humility, integrity, hard work and being nice — virtues that are often hard to show (don’t we know it!), but which warm our hearts when we see them in those around us. We like those people. We want to hang out with them. We want to be like them.
You could say we’re hardwired to be this way. It’s in our make-up, our DNA. It’s what we’re meant to do as image-bearers of God. Just as injustice and suffering jar with our hearts, reminding us that something is off-kilter in the way the world was meant to be, so these qualities chime with our hearts in a way that says: this is what it means to be human.
There is something very Christian — Christ-like, even — about the qualities Kane shows.
Jesus, the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), is the epitome of what it is to be human. In the gospels, people were drawn not only to His power, the signs and wonders, but even more to who He was as a person and the qualities He richly displayed, such as humility, compassion and kindness. Indeed, it’s the marriage of those two things — the God who took on the nature of a servant (Philippians 2:7) — that is most captivating about Him.
And in Christ’s teachings, as well as those of others in the New Testament, practising such qualities is central to what it means to live the fulfilling life God created us for. “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience,” Paul says in Colossians 3:12.
A flawed but positive role model
To be clear, Harry Kane is not a saint. He’s also a sinner — I’m sure his family will quickly reveal some of his flaws! — and, like all of us, he needs Jesus.
In a world where our children are growing up with highly questionable role models, particularly online, Harry Kane is a very welcome aberration.
But in a world where our children are growing up with highly questionable role models, particularly online, Harry Kane is a very welcome aberration. He’s someone we can point to and say is a good person to look up to. Whether our kids are football fans or not, we can talk about the gratitude, humility, integrity and hard work he reflects, how beautiful those qualities are and how they make people feel, and say that they offer a glimpse of the very things that made Jesus so winsome.
And we can add that while it would be cool to know Harry Kane, it’s much, much cooler to know Jesus — and know Jesus we can
