With Tim Tebow, it’s not all about football posted by jwatson on Dec 09, 2011

Have you noticed how much criticism Tim Tebow has been getting?

Even if you don’t follow professional football, you may know of him. While winning games for the Florida Gators in college, he provided a testimony for the Gospel that has reached international status. Tebow quoted Bible verses in his press appearances, news stories, and even on his face during televised games. He and his mother appeared in a 2010 SuperBowl television ad on behalf of Focus on the Family, which received an enormous amount of criticism. His profession of Christ is as widely known as his football prowess.

Now that Tebow is the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos, the criticism has not abated. Never mind the fact that he is winning games (as of this writing his team leads their division), many times coming from behind in the final minutes. Many credit him for pushing the Broncos towards the play-offs and even the Super Bowl.

In spite of winning games, Tim Tebow is being roundly criticized. Not for his football abilities, but rather for his profession of faith in Christ. His position of prayer on the field is being ridiculed by others and has even become a verb, known as “tebowing.” Social media feeds heap scorn on him. Web pages are dedicated to castigating him. Jorge Medina of the Orange County Register said it well: “because Tebow talks about religion and gratitude more than the plays on the field at press conferences, he is shelled with anger.”

One notable example is Jake Plummer, a former NFL quarterback who – according to USAToday – commented on a Phoenix radio station that “he would like Tebow more if he would ‘shut up’ about his faith in Jesus Christ.”

There it is. That is the substance of the critics: just be quiet about your faith, Tim Tebow. But one thing the critics either ignore or overlook is that as Tebow speaks out about Christ, he continues to win games. Could it be perhaps that the two are somehow tied together?

Tebow’s response to his critics: “If you’re married, and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife ‘I love her’ the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and every opportunity? And that’s how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ is that it is the most important thing in my life. So any time I get an opportunity to tell him that I love him or given an opportunity to shout him out on national TV, I’m gonna take that opportunity.”

Please pray for Tim Tebow. Pray that, win or lose, he will continue to have the courage to speak the name of Jesus in spite of the intense criticism. May God be pleased to use his efforts for the spread and the glory of His Gospel.