A bumper sticker I read when I lived in Colorado, “If God’s not a Broncos fan then why are sunsets orange?”
I am sure there will be a slew of new ones that say, “If God’s not a Broncos fan then why does Colorado run on Tebow Time?”
The hoopla around Tim Tebow, his polarizing play at quarterback and his faith is truly amazing. As soon as the Broncos stunning victory over the Steelers was complete yesterday I took to the social media world to watch the explosion of Tebow related commentary. There hasn’t really been a phenomenon in sports quite like this before, partially because of the explosion of social media.
I haven’t written about Tim Tebow much, but here are my thoughts.
On Tebow as a Professional Quarterback
He isn’t a very good quarterback, but he is a good football player. He is the type of guy you would want to play with and he is certainly a guy I root for, regardless of his faith. He is unorthodox, unpolished, and unrelenting. That is a combination I actually enjoy. He is a quarterback that struggles to make routine plays, but in the right circumstances seems to will himself to make the big plays at the biggest moments. In basketball people like Bill Simmons talk about the irrationally confident shooter. He is a player who doesn’t realize his limitations or how good he really is. He thinks he is way better than he is. And yet with the game on this line this guy will take the biggest shot of the season, instead of passing to his much better teammates, and he often makes it.
That is what Tebow reminds me of. He is the irrational confidence quarterback. He overthrows the running back on a screen pass seemingly half the time. He can’t roll right and throw the ball. He throws the ball four feet short of his receivers regularly. And yet with the game on the line he makes plays that he has no business in making. I like that about him.
On Tebow as an Evangelist
All of those thoughts about Tim as an athlete aside, I think of him as a very public Christian in very different ways. Much has been made of Tebow’s outspoken faith, which is regularly on display as he kneels down to pray after big plays or big wins. In fact Tebowing – dropping down to one knee in random public places is a silly fad these days. So what to make of Tim in regards to how he handles his faith publicly?
I have great appreciation for the way Tebow tries to work his faith into his whole life. He is not a part time Christian. He doesn’t compartmentalize his faith. He is a Christian at all times, in all places, no matter what he is doing. That is something that really should be celebrated by us as a church. There are a lot of public figures that are Christians of some ilk and yet no one knows because their faith is compartmentalized and hidden from view. No one can accuse Tim of being ashamed of his faith.
His expression of his faith, however, leaves me something to be desired. Tim Tebow’s public statements about his faith and his displays of faith in sports are very similar to how I thought about evangelism when I was 17-18 years old. I used to write Bible verses on my wrists when I taped them up before wrestling matches and I used Philippians 4:13 as my theme verse. I would chant it to myself almost as a mantra before I went out to wrestle. I felt this need to remind all people at all times that I was different than them because I was a Christan.
The NFL is full of Christian men. It is full of men who run ministries, go on mission trips, support their churches and have strong faiths. There are certainly other Christians out there that will talk about their faith and do so when given opportunity. Growing up with God’s coach, Joe Gibbs, I saw a great example of how a great coach could live out his faith in transformational ways without being renowned for it. His quiet faithfulness, integrity, and ethos have changed many lives. I head Mark Schlereth, former Redskins and Broncos All-Pro lineman tell my youth group about how Gibbs led him to faith his rookie season in the NFL. Gibbs is renowned in the NFL for the quality of who he is and his coaching acumen. But he never put his faith on display in quite the same way as Tim Tebow.
That isn’t so much a criticism of Tebow as an observation. I just think there are more effective ways of demonstrating our faith to the world than dropping to one knee after a big play. Now, if Tim began to give God credit and glory after bad plays as well as good ones, losses as well as wins, failures as well as successes, then I would be a much bigger supporter of his displays. We need not confuse the world at any time about God’s involvement in this world. God doesn’t care whether or not the Broncos win a football game. God’s kingdom is breaking into this world to redeem all of creation. I don’t question whether or not Tim Tebow is working towards that redeeming work, he just doesn’t do it on Sundays when he throws a football.
What does holiness have to do with our sex life? (Find parts 
Having lit the fourth candle of Advent, the moments until Christmas are but few. Only a couple of days remain until we experience the climax of all our preparation. I hope mine/your preparation has been as much spiritual as holiday driven. But in these final days leading up to Christmas our lives are certainly busy and full. So here are some ramblings to help us through the week.
January 9, 2012
4 Comments