In ancient times human life held little value. Indeed gladiatorial games were even held for entertainment in which people were killed for sport. There was no Emporer more depraved than Commodus when it came to the arena. If someone had suffered a cardiac arrest during a game – it would probably not have raised an eyebrow.

Later in 391AD or so, Telemachius jumped the fence at what was believed to be the Colosseum to try and stop a fight to the death. He was himself killed, but becamse the catalyst for the banning of gladiatorial contests. His Christian values came from scripture, and the teachings of Christ that people do have value because of being made in God’s image.

Sport now exists in many forms, for the purpose of entertainment, with American football (NFL) being an example of a high-risk physical sport where players are routinely injured, hence the helmets that must be worn. Physical contests like the NFL, Rugby, Boxing, Wrestling and more are the closest thing we have to the games of ancient times.

On January 2nd, 2023, in an NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinatti Bengals, Damar Hamlin was hit in a heavy tackle and dropped to the ground experiencing cardiac arrest. He was resucitated onfield, and taken away in a ambulance and the game was then cancelled. The below image shows his team plus others praying for him, as an ambulance takes him away. Others at the stadium including players and supporters of the other team where in prayer too.

At the same time, even before an ambulance had arrived, posts like this below exploded all over the internet.

Within hours the amount of posts about people praying was in the millions. People who don’t even have faith were saying prayers.

Even news agencies were calling for prayer:

And the Buffalo Bills official website – requested prayer right across the top of its website.

What happened after Damar’s life-threatening injury was an outpouring of prayer, love and concern, which demonstrates how much the world has changed. Human life is more important than any game, as demonstrated by the cancelling of the rest of the event. What began with Jesus Christ and his words to love and value humans, has worked in cultures, languages and groups of people to bring the most profound changes to the world.

What happened in Monday Night Football in just one example of how the world is different because of Jesus. Jesus laid down his life so that the lives of others could be saved, and set an incredible example which has an increasing effect even today.

A week later, Damar Hamlin is out of hospital, having spent days in ICU. This image from an ABC article says it all.