Thank the Lord for Tim Tebow
I have been watching this young man play football back in the days when he was the championship and Heisman trophy quarterback for the Florida Gators. While you all know that Pam and I (especially Pam) are radical Alabama fans, we found that when Tim was playing we were always “Rooting him on!” The reason is he is our brother. No, not in the flesh, but our brother by the Spirit – meaning he is a true born-again Christian and a very bold spokesman for Christ. It is virtually impossible to not have a desire to see such a man rise to the top of his game, as the Lord will receive glory for the blessings bestowed for the gift and ability of playing the game. Tim now plays for the Denver Broncos, and is an outstanding young quarterback in his own rights. In his college days, he was noted for wearing a black John 3:16 Scripture under his eyes. When Tim did this, often the most requested search engine was for John 3:16, and many un-churched people had no clue to who John was and why John was 3:16! When Tim would score a touchdown or win a game he would often drop to one knee, bow his head, placing his elbow on his knee and his fist towards his head as though resting for a moment. In reality he was giving thanks. This became known as “Tebowing!” It caught on among Christian youth playing sports, especially football.
| Maybe we need a lot more Tebows to speak up as the world will listen to them, long before they will listen to another preacher! |
Of course there were the critics, the old armchair quarterbacks who thought religion and prayer had no place on the sports field. Image their shock when after winning in overtime against Pittsburgh this year, the stats came out concerning Tim’s game that day. That day he totaled 316 yards passing, with an average of 31.6 yards per pass. At the peak of the overtime there was said to be 31.6 million people watching the game! Hummm sound like a sign that someone upstairs really likes this brother!
There were some Christians complaining that Tim wears his religion on his sleeve and should not do that. I heard the same complaint from a liberal talking head on the news network, who was outraged with a recent political candidate (from another party of course) who had ministers laying their hands on him praying. This man barked, “I am a Christian to but I am one in private. We must quit wearing out religion on our shoulder in public.” I learned years ago that if Bill Clinton said Jesus in public, it was greeted by liberals with approval, but if George Bush mentioned Jesus, he was a religious fanatic. If Obama says I’m a Christian, everyone around him nods and smiles with pleasure. However, if the other side says they are, then the left will scream out, “They they are using their Christianity to influence votes.”
For those who have this non-Biblical impression that our faith should be quiet and reserved for the four walls of the church or a home bible study, may I remind you that Christ himself said that if we deny him before men, he would deny us before the father in heaven and if we testified before men, he would testify of knowing us before his father in heaven (Luke 12:8-9). Sounds to me like the angels probably know Tim Tebow far better than the liberal talking head that isn’t interested in anyone knowing what he believes. Maybe we need a lot more Tebows to speak up as the world will listen to them, long before they will listen to another preacher! Keep preaching your way Tim!
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