Let me just start by saying that I DO NOT in any way dislike the person-hood of Tim Tebow. With that being said, I should point out that my argument here is more against the treatment of Tim Tebow by the Christian community. Awesome for Tim Tebow that he uses his position to witness for our savior--love it, it's awesome, and all that. Here's my issue: it appears that Tebow has become somewhat of an idol in the eyes of football crazed Christians and has in many ways become an idol for what we as all Christian's should be doing daily. I've seen it in action--people sit around praising Tebow for his prayerful kneeling on the football field but then enter the workforce on Monday morning like they haven't been to church on Sunday.
Now, let me just be clear--I know this is not ALL Christians, but let's be real--how many of you reading this (myself included as author) have received significant persecution and/or credibility for praising Jesus in the work place? Probably not many. All I am trying to argue with my complaint on the Tebow cult is that 1. Tebow is a human being--he has faults like all of us. I admire his boldness for Christ like I would any other Christian doing the same thing--I don't idolize him for his ability to do it in the NFL. 2. Setting up Tebow as an idol forces us to recognize his failure at some point--he will fail--he is human--at this point he will let many down because he is Christian right? Isn't he supposed to be perfect and awesome? 3. If we all spent as much time praising the work of Christ in our own lives as we do talking about and praising Tebow for praising Jesus then maybe we would see significant changes in our surrounding communities and world. What Tebow on the football field is nothing beyond what we have all been commanded to do by going and making "disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:18-20).
Now, with all that off my chest, let me just be clear that just because we like Tebow and what he does, it should in no way allow us to use his likability and Christiandom to judge the rest of the NFL cast, or any human being for that matter. As I mentioned earlier, at the end of this day we are all human beings, even Tebow. We can't assume that we know the hearts of everyone and only Christ has been given authority to judge. Again I say--the problem resides in idolizing an imperfect being.
Finally, I will close my beef with the Tebow cult by saying this: It's great to be his fan, and it's great to admire the man for what he does, but let us not forget the author of his, and our strength--our Lord and Savior--he is who we should be proclaiming and praising. We all have stories, and experiences to share and if we all infested our communities like Tebow does the football field then we would see a revival in our debauched world. In conclusion, I will reiterate, I do not hate, dislike, or feel that I have beat up on the Tebow ;)
