Earlier this week, I blogged on the question of God and American Football. I previously spoke also of my concern over how many Christians seem to view the Tim Tebow situation as some miraculous work of God.
Anyway, a good friend asked a good question about the whole Tebow situation. "But I have been wondering lately if God is particularly blessing Tebow's efforts because Tebow is presenting a positive image to the world of how a Christian should live their lives, even the rich and famous." She concludes this way: "It's not because Tebow's a Christian, but because he is a powerful witness and God is using that. Does that make any sense?"
The answer, of course, is that it makes a lot of sense in modern American ways of thinking. It is, in fact, an excellent question about how we think about God and about life. The argument is that there is something special about Tebow that God wants to promote by allowing him to win games.
Perhaps, as my friend suggests, this could be a sign to us of "how a Christian should live" life. We should, in that sense, be more like Tebow. God, in this view, is blessing Tebow so that we would want to be more like him.
Trouble is, we really don't have any basis for this idea because we know almost nothing about him. We think we know a lot, but we actually know very little He makes a whole lot of money, we know that, but we cannot mean that God wants us all to make a lot of money. He is publicly praised and admired by thousands, but God surely does not mean that. But we really don't know much else. We do not know what he does on a daily basis. We have no idea about "how he lives" at all. All we know is what we see on Sunday.
The Bible tells us that we are to look to Christ and to the apostles as examples of how to live (and, generally, to leaders whom God has given us). The example of Christ is about how to deal with suffering, something with which Tebow seems totally unacquainted. I have heard people say that he "suffers" because "people mock him." Christians being mocked is common. Has he had a child die? I know many Christians who have lost children, or whose parents are ill, or who are suffering for their jobs. How is Tebow an inspiration to them? He is still a very young man, after all. Does him winning a few football games really inspire greater Christian faithfulness? God has given us leaders of the faith, men and women who have endured the suffering of life. We should not look to young men barely beginning life as our examples.
In America, we think of success as something to emulate, but the Bible tells us to remember those who suffer for Christ and those who lead the body of Christ, and to emulate their way of life. Hebrews 13. We are not to emulate the wealthy, but the faithful. From God's point of view, exalting Tebow in order to have others act like him seems inconsistent with what we are commanded to do.
God has told us, in fact, that we are not great. We were chosen as the weak, the dishonored, the despised, the low. 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. His purpose was to ensure that we would not be proud in ourselves but only in God's power. It would be quite inconsistent to hold that He would then create a great athlete as the one whom we are to exalt and emulate.
We also have to consider that not everyone considers Tebow a great Christian example. Tebow's very career choice is anathema to many faithful Christians, who believe that Sunday is a day given by God for rest and worship, so any admiration for him would be tempered by his helping Christians justify ignoring that requirement. I do not hold this, but many faithful Christians do. Catholics will not admire his rejection of their faith, certainly. Tebow's faith, what little we know of it, seems a fairly common brand in many ways, but is not consistent with most churches at all.
Further, of course, is the question of how this is all working anyway. I suppose you would have to say that part of God's plan is having Tebow play terribly for three quarters, being entirely dependent on his defense succeeding, and then suddenly play well for a few minutes to win (even being dependent on other players making major mistakes). How is this evidence of God's wanting us to be like Tebow? If God has decided to give us athletic success as a standard to follow, wouldn't we be excited about Aaron Rodgers?
Aaron Rodgers is a Christian, a very open and apparently faithful Christian. He quarterbacks the best team in football. They are undefeated. They have not required miraculous turnarounds in the fourth quarter, but are dominant throughout games. Rodgers is the highest rated quarterback in the NFL and is universally said to be playing the position as well as anyone ever has. Yet no one speaks of God being involved at all. He does his job, as we all do, and remains faithful to his testimony and his God.
Rodgers is, by all reports, a serious Christian. His team contains many other serious, faithful Christians. If you are not aware of his faith, check out this news story regarding him and his team. www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=34574
They won the Super Bowl last year, are undefeated this year, are universally recognized as the greatest team, yet Christians want to argue that Denver winning a few close games in the last minutes against weak teams is the sign of God's blessing. As for me, if I were so inclined, I would pick Green Bay. :)
Let me be clear. I know that God has, for whatever reason, decreed that Green Bay be undefeated and that Denver be winning these games. His reasons for doing so are beyond my knowing. These facts impact millions of lives, not just a few fans, and I do not understand how all of it works. God is far beyond my understanding.
But I know that I will never look to Tim Tebow or Aaron Rodgers as an example of how to live my faith, but to Christ. In the same way, their losses will never cause me to reject my faith.
Put simply, I do not know why Denver is winning now. I do not know if God is somehow rewarding Tebow (at the expense of faithful Christians on other teams). I do not know if it is part of a test of Tebow's maturity. I do know that whatever He is doing, it is much more than I can understand.
Enjoy the football (at least the fourth quarter), but be careful about attributing your feelings to God. God is far beyond our understanding.
Anyway, a good friend asked a good question about the whole Tebow situation. "But I have been wondering lately if God is particularly blessing Tebow's efforts because Tebow is presenting a positive image to the world of how a Christian should live their lives, even the rich and famous." She concludes this way: "It's not because Tebow's a Christian, but because he is a powerful witness and God is using that. Does that make any sense?"
The answer, of course, is that it makes a lot of sense in modern American ways of thinking. It is, in fact, an excellent question about how we think about God and about life. The argument is that there is something special about Tebow that God wants to promote by allowing him to win games.
Perhaps, as my friend suggests, this could be a sign to us of "how a Christian should live" life. We should, in that sense, be more like Tebow. God, in this view, is blessing Tebow so that we would want to be more like him.
Trouble is, we really don't have any basis for this idea because we know almost nothing about him. We think we know a lot, but we actually know very little He makes a whole lot of money, we know that, but we cannot mean that God wants us all to make a lot of money. He is publicly praised and admired by thousands, but God surely does not mean that. But we really don't know much else. We do not know what he does on a daily basis. We have no idea about "how he lives" at all. All we know is what we see on Sunday.
The Bible tells us that we are to look to Christ and to the apostles as examples of how to live (and, generally, to leaders whom God has given us). The example of Christ is about how to deal with suffering, something with which Tebow seems totally unacquainted. I have heard people say that he "suffers" because "people mock him." Christians being mocked is common. Has he had a child die? I know many Christians who have lost children, or whose parents are ill, or who are suffering for their jobs. How is Tebow an inspiration to them? He is still a very young man, after all. Does him winning a few football games really inspire greater Christian faithfulness? God has given us leaders of the faith, men and women who have endured the suffering of life. We should not look to young men barely beginning life as our examples.
In America, we think of success as something to emulate, but the Bible tells us to remember those who suffer for Christ and those who lead the body of Christ, and to emulate their way of life. Hebrews 13. We are not to emulate the wealthy, but the faithful. From God's point of view, exalting Tebow in order to have others act like him seems inconsistent with what we are commanded to do.
God has told us, in fact, that we are not great. We were chosen as the weak, the dishonored, the despised, the low. 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. His purpose was to ensure that we would not be proud in ourselves but only in God's power. It would be quite inconsistent to hold that He would then create a great athlete as the one whom we are to exalt and emulate.
We also have to consider that not everyone considers Tebow a great Christian example. Tebow's very career choice is anathema to many faithful Christians, who believe that Sunday is a day given by God for rest and worship, so any admiration for him would be tempered by his helping Christians justify ignoring that requirement. I do not hold this, but many faithful Christians do. Catholics will not admire his rejection of their faith, certainly. Tebow's faith, what little we know of it, seems a fairly common brand in many ways, but is not consistent with most churches at all.
Further, of course, is the question of how this is all working anyway. I suppose you would have to say that part of God's plan is having Tebow play terribly for three quarters, being entirely dependent on his defense succeeding, and then suddenly play well for a few minutes to win (even being dependent on other players making major mistakes). How is this evidence of God's wanting us to be like Tebow? If God has decided to give us athletic success as a standard to follow, wouldn't we be excited about Aaron Rodgers?
Aaron Rodgers is a Christian, a very open and apparently faithful Christian. He quarterbacks the best team in football. They are undefeated. They have not required miraculous turnarounds in the fourth quarter, but are dominant throughout games. Rodgers is the highest rated quarterback in the NFL and is universally said to be playing the position as well as anyone ever has. Yet no one speaks of God being involved at all. He does his job, as we all do, and remains faithful to his testimony and his God.
Rodgers is, by all reports, a serious Christian. His team contains many other serious, faithful Christians. If you are not aware of his faith, check out this news story regarding him and his team. www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=34574
They won the Super Bowl last year, are undefeated this year, are universally recognized as the greatest team, yet Christians want to argue that Denver winning a few close games in the last minutes against weak teams is the sign of God's blessing. As for me, if I were so inclined, I would pick Green Bay. :)
Let me be clear. I know that God has, for whatever reason, decreed that Green Bay be undefeated and that Denver be winning these games. His reasons for doing so are beyond my knowing. These facts impact millions of lives, not just a few fans, and I do not understand how all of it works. God is far beyond my understanding.
But I know that I will never look to Tim Tebow or Aaron Rodgers as an example of how to live my faith, but to Christ. In the same way, their losses will never cause me to reject my faith.
Put simply, I do not know why Denver is winning now. I do not know if God is somehow rewarding Tebow (at the expense of faithful Christians on other teams). I do not know if it is part of a test of Tebow's maturity. I do know that whatever He is doing, it is much more than I can understand.
Enjoy the football (at least the fourth quarter), but be careful about attributing your feelings to God. God is far beyond our understanding.