It is game played by the entire planet, the game that brings us together, the game made up of many faces. Simply it is the game played beautifully.

The 1958 World Cup is a pivotal moment in Brazilian history, in the history of my people. 8 years prior, we were defeated and humiliated in the final as we crashed out of the tournament. Many blamed our heritage, they blamed our mixed race in what the world considered an imperfection. They blamed our “ginga,” our African heritage, our past for the failure in the tournament. We were ashamed, we were ashamed of who we were, of who God created us to be. We tried to cover up the natural characteristics of our game, of our style of futebol, and pretend to be something we weren’t. The world said that our ginga style would never last or hold up to the standards of the majority, to the standards of Europe. And so, we conformed, we conformed to the Italians, to the English, the French, the Germans and the Swedish. We exchanged our natural gifts for the lies of the world.

In 1958, we entered the World Cup with the hopes of being like Europe, with the hopes that the rest of the world would not see us as an inferior race, as Brazilian. We hoped that we would be like them, but we weren’t and we still aren’t. They saw us as an inferior mixed race, not good enough to even be in the presence of our European counterparts. But unlike 1950, we had among us those who were not ashamed, those who were proud of their home, of their heritage, who were proud to be Brazilian. We had players like Pele and Garrincha who embraced who they truly were and played with their heritage of ginga on display for the world, not conforming to the expectations and standards of European football. 1958 was a crucial time for our nation, it was the year that we truly became who we are, who God created us to be. It was the year that we played beautifully and won the Cup. The ginga style of play came to be known as the beautiful game.

When we have the courage to embrace who we truly are, we become who God created us to be, we become truly beautiful. God has given us the amazing gift of diversity, of culture, of ethnicities. God has given us this beautiful gift to display His glory. But when we are ashamed of who we are, we hide God’s glory from the world, we become ashamed of God Himself. In many ways, the children of God are still like the Brazilians of 1950, we are ashamed of who God created us to be, we are ashamed of our heritage, our ethnicity, our culture, even the color of our skin. God created us beautifully just as we are. He created us to display not our own beauty but His. Many Christians are afraid to live life beautifully as the Brazilians of 1958 did, but sadly many Christians are just like the Europeans. They expect other cultures, other races and other ethnicities to conform to the standards of Anglo-Saxon conservative Christianity, they expect them to conform to the majority. They look upon other races and cultures as inferior, as not truly Christian or correct Christianity. They create a barrier that holds the ethnic Body of Christ at bay, as the “other” or the “those people.” As an immigrant of color, as a Brazilian, as a Christian, as a minority in the Church I have seen this far too often. I have been told to leave behind my proud heritage of Brazilian culture in order to conform to the American standards, to be “beautiful.” When we do this, we lose the true beauty of God, the beauty of the body of Christ.

I truly believe that many Christians will be extremely surprised when they enter glory and enter into the presence of God. For on that day they will realize that heaven is full of different cultures, different ethnicities, different colors and people. If anything, being in the presence of God will be like futebol; for it is made up of many nations together, many faces, many people together in the beautiful glory of the Father. If we do not realize this I fear that we will lose sight of who God is, of who He created us to be, we will be just like Brazil in 1950.

Beauty is nothing if we cannot experience it. God created each and every one of us as a beautiful creation, as His treasure. He created us in His image to display His beauty, His glory; not what man has deemed beautiful. So, whatever race, ethnicity, culture or nation you come from live life proud of who God created you to be. Live life showing the world your own “ginga” and celebrate it, do not conform or change who you are to fit the standards of others. Live life to the fullest, as God created you to be. Live every moment beautifully. Life is made up of moments, beautiful moments, don’t waste these moments ignoring the beauty and glory of God through His creation in culture, race and ethnicity.