In a Players Voice article dated 16 Apr 18 Israel Folau wrote the following:

I didn’t agree with Bill Pulver taking a stance on the same-sex marriage vote on behalf of the whole organisation, but I understand the reasons behind why he did.

I believe some context and background to this statement can be garnered from the following article…

Bill Pulver was the CEO of Rugby Australia before Raelene Castle…

I’ve been thinking, what would it take for reconciliation to occur between Israel Folau and Rugby Australia?

It is still inconceivable to me that Rugby Australia attends the 2019 Rugby World Cup without their best player…

So what would need to happen for this to become a reality, i.e. for Rugby Australia to field their best team at the 2019 Rugby World Cup…

I was praying about this and the Lord told me that Rugby Australia had ‘over-reached’ with respect to their public endorsement of same-sex marriage…

It was not Rugby Australia’s place to publically endorse same-sex marriage (they did this on 12 Sep 17) on the day that the postal survey vote commenced…

If Bill Pulver had have wanted to publically endorse same-sex marriage then it would have been appropriate for him to do so from his own personal social media platforms…

If Cameron Clyne had have wanted to publically endorse same-sex marriage then it would have been appropriate for him to do so from his own personal social media platforms…

How could Rugby Australia have been speaking for all their constituents when they made the call to publically endorse same-sex marriage on behalf of all their constituents?

How could they possibly have even known what all their constituents believed about this issue?

Did they conduct their own private survey of all their constituents prior to the official survey?

For Rugby Australia to publically endorse same-sex marriage they would have needed to have completed such a survey of their constituents and received a 100% support response, otherwise, they would not be representing their constituents fairly…

There is no evidence to suggest that Rugby Australia ever canvased their constituents in this manner and so they had no legitimate authority to publically endorse same-sex marriage…

The Lord is perfectly happy for anyone who wants to play rugby professionally to play rugby…

The Lord doesn’t discriminate against anyone who wants to play rugby professionally, He is happy for the best team to be chosen – in fact, that’s what He wants…

He wants Rugby Australia to exist to support rugby in Australia (at every level, in every respect) and at the elite level to reward skill and ability by fairly and justly selecting the best players at national level to represent Australia…

This gives all Australians who wish to play rugby something to aim for…

This means that irrespective of your background or beliefs you will be able to reach the highest levels of sporting achievement based on sporting ability without experiencing any discrimination…

Discrimination according to a recent Court of Appeal decision in the UK, is not the expression of a view…

The mere expression of views on theological grounds (e.g. that ‘homosexuality is a sin’) does not necessarily connote that the person expressing such views will discriminate on such grounds.

The Lord wants everyone who is a constituent of Rugby Australia to have the freedom to express their views on their own personal social media platforms without fear of retribution…

The Lord also does not want Rugby Australia to take on a ‘moral arbiter’ role as Rugby Australia has no authority to wield or enforce that role…

Rugby Australia’s role in the Lord’s eyes is to encourage everyone who wants to play Rugby Union in Australia to be able to do so and for those who excel at it to reach the highest levels and represent their country without fear of exclusion should their own personal beliefs differ from the personal beliefs of the Coach, CEO, Chairman of the Board, or sponsors CEO’s…

Basically, to ‘stick to its knitting’, encourage good sport, give the people who decide to play and watch the game the best enjoyment and entertainment that they can and keep morality out of it… 🙂

The Lord gives everyone (not just those who believe in Jesus) passions and abilities and delights in seeing these abilities used to their highest capacity…

Just because someone doesn’t believe in Jesus doesn’t mean that the Lord doesn’t desire them success in their chosen profession, as He gave them those desires and in following them they are more likely to come to know Him…

If there are no sponsors, as Cameron Clyne recently asserted, who agree to support true inclusion and true diversity (all working together on the playing field to achieve the maximum result for the team no matter what they believe personally about moral issues), then the Lord would rather that Rugby Australia ‘die a natural death’ than continue down its present path…

As its present path does not support fairness and justice and nothing built on an unjust foundation will remain…

For I, the LORD, love justice, (Isaiah 61:8a NASB)

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. (Psalm 89:14 NASB)

Thus, Rugby Australia needs a recalibration, to step back from its ‘moralizing role’, to admit that it had no authority to take on that role, to admit that it had no authority to publically endorse same-sex marriage on the day voting commenced on that issue and to step back from any other ‘moralizing roles’ which they have taken on…

This is what the Lord wants for Rugby Australia, only this will ensure that Rugby Australia chooses the best team to represent their nation in the 2019 Rugby World Cup…

If this means that they lose all their present corporate sponsors so be it…

If no other corporate sponsors can be found by Rugby Australia to replace the ones who decide to withdraw their support then Rugby Australia should approach the newly elected Australian Government (as the adapted Australian Coat of Arms is on the Wallabies jersey) to fund them in the spirit of true inclusion and true diversity (until such a time as other corporate sponsors become available)…

If Rugby Australia were to have this change of heart and the appropriate follow-up conversations with sponsors (seeing what the fallout may be), the newly elected Australian Government (if necessary) and then go back to their constituents publically apologizing for publically supporting same-sex marriage and specifically go back to Israel Folau publically apologizing for the discrimination they have exhibited towards him (by the course of action they have pursued, based on his own personal beliefs expressed on his own personal social media platform, with the direct intent to end his professional career and make it impossible for him to practice his profession in his native land), reinstating him on his previous salary with an appropriate bonus to cover the hardship they have caused him, then I believe (in the Lord’s eyes) Israel would be free to return to play for the Wallabies in the 2019 Rugby World Cup (no court case required)…

What of Israel’s Wallabies teammates however?  Will they discriminate against him (realizing that discrimination is about the way we actually treat real people who we may not agree with)?  I believe that no one should be able to discriminate, i.e. not to throw that pass which would mean Israel would score the try, or to ignore Israel at training and have nothing to do with him, or to give him the ‘cold shoulder’ letting him know in no uncertain terms that he’s actually not welcome back, as this goes against the fabric of what it means to be a team (the same is true for all people)…

The reality is that people (being people) have all sorts of personal beliefs, but in a team setting, we need to ‘get over it’, work together as a team, be polite and use the various team members’ strengths to the best advantage to maximize team performance…

It is a choice to be offended not an offence if something you believe offends someone…

When Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the whole world He chose not to be offended at the way He was unjustly treated and by taking on everyone’s sin for all time He has made it possible for everyone to come to experience His forgiveness…

From God’s perspective, all the sin of the whole world is now paid for meaning that God now waits for people to make use of this opportunity to be forgiven…

God desires everyone to repent, but if people don’t want to repent then they won’t be forced to but equally, they won’t experience the forgiveness He bought for them…

Back to our original topic, I believe there is forgiveness for Rugby Australia but the onus is fairly and squarely on Rugby Australia’s shoulders (as discussed above) to publically apologise to their constituents (restoring faith in a fair and just selection process) and specifically to Israel Folau and to work through the mechanics of making the ‘money side’ work by whatever legal means are at its disposal (this responsibility ultimately sits with Cameron Clyne as Chairman of the Board)…

Sadly, from the Lord’s perspective, there is no future (no moving forward) for Rugby Australia until this occurs…