As I’ve been following what is going on in Australia with respect to the way Israel & Maria Folau are being treated presently it has become apparent to me that it is not just Rugby Australia and elements of the Australian Media who appear to be treating Israel & Maria in an unfair and unjust manner but also some of the corporations which sponsor the sports (Rugby Union & Netball respectively) they have been involved with have been sending strong ‘virtue signalling’ messages towards this talented sporting couple…

Qantas, ASICS, ANZ, Mazda & Health Insurance Company HCF are the five that I’m presently aware of…

As I’ve shared in previous posts on this blog I’m all for freedom of speech and freedom of worship…

I’m not out there physically trying to shut any of us up about what we believe in or trying to stop any of us worshipping whatever it is that we are worshipping as I believe that is our God-given right of free choice…

That is our dignity given to us by God – to ignore Him and His ways if that is what we so choose to do in this life…

Or to seek Him and His ways if that is what we so choose to do in this life…

And whatever we decide, to be treated respectfully (as taught and enabled by the Lord) by those of us who have already been brought to know the Lord and are being made more like Him in our actions by His Holy Spirit…

Even if the companies which I own (or will own) were to ever be in a strong financial position – which I believe will occur one day Lord willing – I do not believe (before the Lord) that it would be right for me to use my then position of financial power to threaten those who work for the companies which I own (or those who work for other companies or organisations which I sponsor)  to believe what I believe or worship the way I worship ‘or else’…

I believe that would be wrong (I believe sponsorship should be freely given if given at all with ‘no strings attached’)…

Apart from the decision which I have made before God that I (as the owner of these companies) will only approach and (if they’re keen) appoint people to our companies Board of Directors to serve as Directors who I believe (a) are believers in Jesus, (b) are surrendered to Jesus and scripture (as per my recent blog posts on this site), (c) are willing to allow Him to do whatever He wants through them as Directors and (d) resonate with our vision and values, we don’t have any stipulation and won’t have any stipulation on any of our employees (from ‘cleaner to CEO’) as to what we can or cannot believe – there is (and will be) full career progression available in our companies (again) from ‘cleaner to CEO’ no matter what we believe or how (and whom) we do or do not choose to worship…

We (again from ‘cleaner to CEO’) will all come to work (as described above), fulfil our unique responsibilities (hopefully having a happy time doing it), be accepted for who we are personally (whatever that might be), have all our work-related ideas listened to, valued and considered (and relayed to the Board of Directors and owner accordingly by the CEO) and go home again and do whatever we want to outside of work time and then come back the next working day and do it all again…

I believe there is a separation between work and personal life…

Between work – where we all come together to further the stated vision and values of our respective companies – and our private lives (or beliefs)…

Why should any of our personal or private lives (apart from being genuinely arrested and truly found guilty of some real wrongdoing which results in any of us going to prison so we can’t come into work) have anything to do with our ability to perform our job?

Obviously, if one of us was hit by a bus and killed or had all our bones broken and ended up in a traction machine at the hospital this would also stop us completing our job…

But why would any of our personal Instagram posting, for example, done under our own name and not under the name of our employer (as is the case with the Folaus) have anything to do with our employment?

It should not…

I always believed (maybe naively) that it was fair and just for the best players in a nation to be selected for the national sports teams of that nation (and I genuinely believed that was what happened)…

I always thought that sport was the great equalizer where the upper, middle and lower classes would all be represented on a level playing field based on sporting ability and that for team sports no matter what the individual personal backgrounds or beliefs of the team members we all had to ‘buckle down’ and get on with each other – accept each other and work together in training and on the field – for the sake of the team…

This would involve a zero tolerance for bullying in the team, meaning that if any of us as a team member spoke personally against another one of our team members putting our team members’ playing ability down and stating that we were not willing to play with our team member any more for reasons relating to our team members’ personal beliefs that we would of necessity need to be removed from the team environment (until we sorted through our attitude problem) as that activity and behaviour goes against team bonding and the development of team culture…

I believe it’s exactly the same (and should be exactly the same) in the companies that I own (or will own)…

We should (aspirationally) all be working together towards a common vision using our common values for the good of the company (with no condemnation as per our values) no matter if we believe different things in our personal lives and irrespective of how we share these beliefs publically in our personal lives…

This has not happened in the Wallabies…

It appears that the Wallabies – barring a miracle – will be going to the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan without their best player…

This choice has not been made because their best player isn’t a team player or that he has personally spoken against any other team members’ ability to fulfil their position in the team or because he is a ‘diva’ who refuses to play with any other team member because of some personal view that they hold and have expressed publically in their own private time…

Rugby Australia has chosen not to pick the Australian Rugby Team based on sporting ability but instead based on a willingness for the players chosen not to share their own personal beliefs publically when they differ from those ‘personal beliefs’ which Rugby Australia have chosen to share publically on behalf of all those players (whether those players share those views or not)…

So the selection process for the Wallabies is no longer fair or just…

It is no longer based on rugby playing ability…

It is based on toeing the party line…

Conformity to the party position…

Conform, or no paycheque…

Conform, or no selection…

Having seen the ease with which Rugby Australia (with the ‘support’ of Qantas and ASICS) completed the removal of Israel Folau from the Wallabies, Netball South Australia, Netball Australia (and even Netball New Zealand) have now been ‘approached’ by ANZ, Mazda and HCF and told their views of Maria Folau in no uncertain terms…

Why would they do this?

Surely their ‘virtue signalling’ views are available on their websites for everyone to see?

Surely they didn’t need to tell Netball South Australia, Netball Australia (and Netball New Zealand) of their ‘virtue signalling’ views with specific reference to Maria Folau?  Surely Netball South Australia, Netball Australia (and Netball New Zealand) would have completed ‘due diligence’ on ANZ, Mazda and HCF before agreeing to receive their sponsorship so they would be fully aware of their ‘virtue signalling’ views?

So why ‘remind them’ so pointedly when Maria Folau reshared a post her husband made on Instagram with no comment?

Was that a threat from ANZ, Mazda and HCF?  What did they hope to achieve by that action?  It appears obvious to me that just like Qantas and ASICS, ANZ, Mazda and HCF were using their ‘virtue signalling’ clout to let every athlete employed by Rugby Australia, Netball South Australia and Netball Australia respectively know that they (as the sponsors) ‘call the shots’ (not Rugby Australia, not Netball South Australia and not Netball Australia), that they believe their sponsorship dollar has given them ‘leverage’ over Rugby Australia, Netball South Australia and Netball Australia and that they now believe (on this basis) that they ‘own’ Rugby Australia, Netball South Australia and Netball Australia (i.e. ‘there’s no such thing as a free lunch’)…

I do not believe that any corporation should ‘wield’ that kind of power (albeit second hand or indirect power – as none of the athletes who work for Rugby Australia, Netball South Australia or Netball Australia signed up to Qantas’ or ASICS’ or ANZ’s or Mazda’s or HCF’s vision or values) over their employees…

This kind of abuse of power is exactly the same kind of power which Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Lenin and Mao Tse Tung exercised over the people of their nations as government leaders – conform or suffer and perish…

This is a very Anti-Christ perspective…

As I have said before – Jesus is not a controlling person…

He is a realist…

He speaks the truth in love…

He tells us what we need to hear not what we want to hear (even when it offends us)…

He tells us what He knows is best for us (even if He knows we won’t like it and will reject it)…

And then after we reject what He tells us ultimately, He honours our ultimate rejection of Him in this life (He gives us over to what we really want to do)…

He is saddened by our decision but He honours it and He never forces us to do anything that we don’t want to do…

He never forces us to do anything against the desires of our own heart…

He has the ultimate authority to be ‘virtue signalling’ – He controls whether we breathe or whether we don’t – whether our hearts beat or whether they don’t – He owns everything – He keeps the world spinning on its axis and in its orbit around the sun at just the right distance for our little planet not to burn to a crisp…

And yet – as I’ve said before – He doesn’t use that right to force obedience to His vision and values, instead, He lets us (His subjects) do whatever we like in this life ‘under the sun’ hoping that we will see His goodness and repent and turn to Him so we can get to know Him now (in this life) and live with Him forever…

He warns us that the lake of fire and brimstone await all of us who choose not to believe in Jesus to forgive us from our sin – because sin is not trusting God and instead deciding to be the boss of our own lives – thinking we know better than God what is good for us and deciding to ‘go after’ or ‘grab’ that for ourselves…

He doesn’t threaten us with this – He just tells us – it is a reality…

He doesn’t want us to end up there but we will if we don’t turn to Him in repentance…

He doesn’t expect us to ‘try harder’ or ‘try to improve ourselves’ or ‘try to repress our desires or urges’ – He just asks us to admit that we turned away from trusting Him to look after us (in Adam and Eve) and decided instead that we knew better than Him how to look after ourselves and we’d sort out our own happiness from now on ‘thank you very much’…

So, if I compare Qantas, ASICS, ANZ, Mazda and HCF with Jesus I see that Jesus has an infinite amount more authority than any of these corporations and also an infinite amount more credibility to be ‘morally indignant’ than they do – and yet He doesn’t use it…

He, Jesus, is our example in all things…

When the companies I own are blessed (Lord willing) by the Lord to ‘increase’ and have financial ‘clout’ and ‘power’ I pray (Lord make this the reality) that my decision will be to continue to give these companies back to You Lord – as You are the Owner (with a capital O) of them and let You do whatever You want with them (they are Yours)…

Those of us who choose to work for those companies at all levels (barring Board of Director and owner level) can do so believing exactly what we want to and expressing this however we want to in our private time publically on social media and worship whoever and whatever we so desire in our private time publically and on social media if we so choose…

Father, in Jesus Name, I pray that Your Character would be replicated in our region (the Great Southland of the Holy Spirit and the Pacific Ring of Fire) and that all of us who know You will give to all of us who don’t the freedom in our region to speak and worship in our own private time however we would so desire – I pray Father that none of us who know You who own companies would use our companies as weapons of control to try and ‘moralize’ or ‘conform’ any of us as employees in these areas…

Father, in Jesus Name, I forgive Qantas, ASICS, ANZ, Mazda & HCF for bullying Israel & Maria Folau, I choose on behalf of those of us who know (and are coming to know) You to hold no malice towards Qantas, ASICS, ANZ, Mazda & HCF in our hearts but to listen to You (personally and individually) as to how You would want us to relate to these corporations (following the peace You give us) and all like them who use this ‘virtue signalling’ approach, we forgive them Lord and ask that You would bless all the employees, Directors and owners of Qantas, ASICS, ANZ, Mazda & HCF with a knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, that they would come to know You and hand their corporations over to You as the Owner (with a capital O) of their corporations so that their corporations could be used in our region for Your Glory, in Jesus Name I pray…

I pray Father, that none of us who know You and work in government of any sort would try and ‘moralize’ and create laws which force us as the people of our nations to do or not do anything – as forcing us as the people of our nations to do things against our will (i.e. to speak or not to speak, stipulating what we can and cannot say and how we can or cannot say it or to worship or not to worship, again stipulating how we can or cannot worship) doesn’t bring us closer to You (because its not in Your Character)…

I pray Father that we who believe in You would honour what You said Jesus that Your Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgement…

Not ‘virtue signalling’ (by corporations) or ‘laws’ (by government at whatever level) which try to force an outward ‘morality’, but Your Holy Spirit personally speaking to the heart (either directly or through those of us who know You who find ourselves submitted to Your Holy Spirit at any point in time and Him speaking through us), so that the world, i.e. all of us who don’t know You as our Redeemer, our Saviour, our Lord, would come to know You in our region and that our whole region would be saved in freedom, in freedom of choice, in Jesus Name, that we might speak of You boldly, publically and lovingly and worship You freely – all without fear and persecution – in our region under an open heaven…

I pray in the Name of the Father, and of the Son – Jesus Christ – and of the Holy Spirit – who is our Counsellor in everything, so let it be, Amen… 🙂