We once again find ourselves in the midst of a Christian Celebrity Circus. This time, the "celebrity" is a very young man who plays football. Tim Tebow, of the Denver Broncos, has become a center of a small storm of dispute. It is an interesting view of the foolishness of modern American Christianity.
He is both an outgoing Christian (one who publicly embraces his faith) and a very odd football player. He has had a lot of success in college, not so much in the professional ranks, but has become a serious celebrity because of his faith and his college success. His football skills are not the usual ones that succeed in the NFL, but Christians urge the league to change in order to fit him.
You can find discussions of Tim Tebow on websites, on television, on radio, and anywhere you go. It has become amazingly central to sports programming.
What a shame.
The Bible makes clear that Christianity is, first and foremost, about Christ. Christ is not "at the center" of our faith, He is the center of our faith. Christ is the only Christian celebrity. Everyone else is a believer in Christ or an unbeliever. Christ is our Celebrity.
Secondly, Tebow is not to blame for any of this. He is a faithful believer (based on everything we can see) and has not created this celebrity status. He is not like Deion Sanders, a very talented player who made the decision to be famous. He is just trying to play.
The shame is on the Christians who have made Tim Tebow central to their belief. There are news stories of people buying jerseys with his number and putting "Christ" in the name spot, as if Tebow were Christ. There are Christians who turn every question about Tebow into a question about Christianity, which is entirely irrelevant to the actual question of whether he can play NFL quarterback.
When he wins, Christians have the idea that "God is with him" and when he loses they blame the coach or the other players. This is nonsense, of course, but not uncommon in American Christian circles.
We forget how young he is. We forget that he knows much less than many of us know. We forget that he, like every Christian, is living his life day by day without knowing what will happen tomorrow. We stifle him by our focus on him, almost a worship by some folks.
Why do we so love Christian celebrities? I think it is because, deep down, we have too little faith in Christ Himself or in His gospel. We have the idea that having a famous quarterback will convince people to accept Christ, which is foolishness. We have the sense that having a famous quarterback be a Christian makes us better or more acceptable, in the same way that we will cheer for someone who went to our college or who comes from our home town. We become tribal about our faith and we look for human beings to carry the torch for us. We reject what God tells us to be.
We are not willing to live quiet lives. We are not willing to be overlooked. We are not willing to be humble people. We are not willing to quietly serve God. We want to be famous. We want everyone to respect us. We want people to think well of us. So, we love it when a brother in the faith becomes famous and we cling to his fame. When they fail, we have to find an excuse because we don't really believe in God's sovereignty. When they succeed, we pretend it has something to do with their faith, the thing we share with them, even though nothing else about them is anything like us at all.
The ultimate foolishness is the idea that NFL success is "God's plan" for Tebow. Really? Is it God's primary concern that he have a Christian NFL quarterback or that the gospel be faithfully preached? What if God's will for Tebow is failure in the NFL and success in the mission field? Will the Christians who support him accept this result? If he is injured in tonight's game, will they accept this or "blame" the player who injures him? If he ends up living a quiet life of Christian service, will they accept that?
Christ is our celebrity. No one will be saved because of Tebow's NFL career but only by the preaching of the gospel. We preach Christ, not football theory or the lives of men.
Leave Tebow alone. Let him try and either succeed or fail, glorifying God all the way. If he becomes a great NFL quarterback, it means nothing to the gospel of Christ, which rests on the greatness of Christ not the greatness of Tim Tebow. We do not want people claiming to believe because of Tim (he doesn't want that either) but because of Him.
He is both an outgoing Christian (one who publicly embraces his faith) and a very odd football player. He has had a lot of success in college, not so much in the professional ranks, but has become a serious celebrity because of his faith and his college success. His football skills are not the usual ones that succeed in the NFL, but Christians urge the league to change in order to fit him.
You can find discussions of Tim Tebow on websites, on television, on radio, and anywhere you go. It has become amazingly central to sports programming.
What a shame.
The Bible makes clear that Christianity is, first and foremost, about Christ. Christ is not "at the center" of our faith, He is the center of our faith. Christ is the only Christian celebrity. Everyone else is a believer in Christ or an unbeliever. Christ is our Celebrity.
Secondly, Tebow is not to blame for any of this. He is a faithful believer (based on everything we can see) and has not created this celebrity status. He is not like Deion Sanders, a very talented player who made the decision to be famous. He is just trying to play.
The shame is on the Christians who have made Tim Tebow central to their belief. There are news stories of people buying jerseys with his number and putting "Christ" in the name spot, as if Tebow were Christ. There are Christians who turn every question about Tebow into a question about Christianity, which is entirely irrelevant to the actual question of whether he can play NFL quarterback.
When he wins, Christians have the idea that "God is with him" and when he loses they blame the coach or the other players. This is nonsense, of course, but not uncommon in American Christian circles.
We forget how young he is. We forget that he knows much less than many of us know. We forget that he, like every Christian, is living his life day by day without knowing what will happen tomorrow. We stifle him by our focus on him, almost a worship by some folks.
Why do we so love Christian celebrities? I think it is because, deep down, we have too little faith in Christ Himself or in His gospel. We have the idea that having a famous quarterback will convince people to accept Christ, which is foolishness. We have the sense that having a famous quarterback be a Christian makes us better or more acceptable, in the same way that we will cheer for someone who went to our college or who comes from our home town. We become tribal about our faith and we look for human beings to carry the torch for us. We reject what God tells us to be.
We are not willing to live quiet lives. We are not willing to be overlooked. We are not willing to be humble people. We are not willing to quietly serve God. We want to be famous. We want everyone to respect us. We want people to think well of us. So, we love it when a brother in the faith becomes famous and we cling to his fame. When they fail, we have to find an excuse because we don't really believe in God's sovereignty. When they succeed, we pretend it has something to do with their faith, the thing we share with them, even though nothing else about them is anything like us at all.
The ultimate foolishness is the idea that NFL success is "God's plan" for Tebow. Really? Is it God's primary concern that he have a Christian NFL quarterback or that the gospel be faithfully preached? What if God's will for Tebow is failure in the NFL and success in the mission field? Will the Christians who support him accept this result? If he is injured in tonight's game, will they accept this or "blame" the player who injures him? If he ends up living a quiet life of Christian service, will they accept that?
Christ is our celebrity. No one will be saved because of Tebow's NFL career but only by the preaching of the gospel. We preach Christ, not football theory or the lives of men.
Leave Tebow alone. Let him try and either succeed or fail, glorifying God all the way. If he becomes a great NFL quarterback, it means nothing to the gospel of Christ, which rests on the greatness of Christ not the greatness of Tim Tebow. We do not want people claiming to believe because of Tim (he doesn't want that either) but because of Him.