Tim Tebow and C.H. Spurgeon

Never in my life did I think I would write about football. Ever. If you know me, I am pretty indifferent and oblivious when it comes to sports. The only time I will sit down is if the Yankees are in the World Series and the Super Bowl (but really, I’m there to watch the commercials and the food) or when my dad feels like scarring me when a player’s arm or leg is in an unnatural position.

The first time I heard about Tebow, I didn’t even realize he was a football player…or a real person for that matter. My family and I were spending a day together last fall and we were just goofing off, taking funny pictures of ourselves. We were doing the usual poses, owling, planking, the X-Men First Class, ect. Then my sister and my dad do something I wasn’t aware of, they were ‘tebowing.’ And that is how I first heard of Tim Tebow. 

This is Becca.

our version of XMen

What is this Tebowing??

Last Sunday night, while the rest of my family was enthusiastically watching the Broncos-Steelers game, I was very intrigued with a documentary on the History channel. My sister Becca comes running in jumping up and down on the couch doing a victory dance screaming something like this:

“KRISTEN HE DID IT. TEBOW DID IT. KRISTEN KRISTEN KRISTENNNN. GOD LOVES TEBOW MORE THAN YOU. I LOVE TEBOW. TEBOW’S AWESOME.”

She then proceeded to Tebow and run off screaming.

Tebow has caught both my 14 yr old sister and America by storm. He is everywhere. Tebowing is the new planking. The sports section of the news is now Tebow and sports. Tim Tebow had nearly 9,500 tweets per second during his touchdown in overtime Sunday night. That’s more than DOUBLE the rate during the Super Bowl at any point last year. That’s more than the death of Bin Laden. That is even more tweets than the Royal Wedding.

Some of this mania is because Time Tebow is an underdog that nobody expected. Some of it is because he doesn’t play the way he’s supposed too. But since I’m not a sports critic or fan, I’m not going to discuss sports. Mostly this ‘Tebowmania’ is about his obvious displays of his Christian faith.

We’re not used to someone recently to be so shamelessly proud about being a Christian, especially a young man, a quarterback in the NFL. He would wear verse references as his eye black. Whenever he is interviewed, his faith is always mentioned. In both the good and the bad, he publicly goes on his knees.

He is so open about God that people, even fellow Christians, think he should tone it down. Even former quarterback and well-known believer Kurt Warner suggested that he should tone it down.

He’s not even a ‘cool’ Christian (something I will definitely write about soon.) His favorite verse is John 3:16. He still sings Lord I Life Your Name on High. He was home schooled. I think some of us Christians are embarrassed by him.

Even though I don’t watch his games, Tim Tebow has earned my respect. That is something I don’t say often, or give freely.

I am ashamed and embarrassed by the Christians who think Tebow should not talk about his love for Jesus as often as he does. He isn’t the type of ‘Christian’ we Christians would pick to have so much media attention because he doesn’t play Jesus or Christianity ‘cool.’

Whenever I see or hear about Tebow, I am reminded of a story I had read a while back. It is about the revered Victorian pastor C.H. Spurgeon critiquing a young pastor after the young pastor gave a very well prepared preaching.

“Will you tell me why you think it a poor sermon?” said the young pastor.

“Because,” said Spurgeon, “There was no Christ in it.”

The young man said, “Well, Christ was not in the text [*cough* football or your life]; we are not to be preaching Christ always, we much preach what is in the text [*cough* football or your life].”

Spurgeon responded, “Don’t you know, young man, that from every town, and every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London?”

“Yes.” Said the young man.

“Ah,” said Spurgeon, “and so from every text in Scripture there is a road to the metropolis of Scriptures – and that is Christ. Dear Brother, when you get a text [a God given opportunity] say, ‘Now, what is the road to Christ?’ and then preach a sermon, [play football or live our lives] running along the road towards the great metropolis – Christ.”

-An excerpt from the Simply Youth Conference 2011 Journal and Devotional Booklet.

Tebow is a great example of this. In everything we do, in everything that we are, should lead to Jesus. Our actions, our words, our life. Our purpose is to proudly proclaim who Christ is and give Him glory, not to tone it down, even if God is not directly in the text, in our career, in our school, or a football game.

I probably won’t watch the next football game, but I’ll definitely be proud of Tim Tebow (whether he wins or loses) and keep him in my prayers.