Anyways that is his piece on Tim Tebow and the problem with evangelical Christians in America idolizing him because of his success (actually it's his team's success >_> I notice that after the Broncos lost today, everybody was blaming the team and saying the Broncos lost, but when the team wins, it's "Tebow wins" -_- ) It is rly awesome and says so many of the things that have been getting me annoyed about the pedestalization of Tim Tebow and ppl trying to use him as proof of God or etc... -_-
If you’re a Christian, you might look upon what Tim Tebow is up to and praise God for it. And go ahead if you want to—a fellow believer is out there in the public eye telling the world that God is responsible for all of his success. How on earth, you ask, is this a bad thing?
But that’s just it. Tim’s message is so inherently linked to celebrity success and the platform that it brings, that they are not hearing an objective message about faith. They are hearing that God is the way to get to the same celebrity threshold if they make similar religious choice. It’s really no different than a faith and prosperity preacher saying that the path to riches is through his or her teachings, except that a religious preacher’s message made him popular. A sport’s star’s messages is almost always related to his on field production.
Sadly, these facts are not what most evangelicals hear. In fact, I’m willing to bet that right now, as they are reading this, they’re already thinking of scriptures to rebuke me with. I concede that Tim using his platform to spread the word of God is good, but for far to many, that word is only relevant because Tim is an icon.
Think about it. Think about walking down the street of your local town, and there on a street corner is a guy telling you things like, “God told me ______.” You’d think he was nuts. You’d tell him get help. You’d say to your buddy at church on Sunday, “why do people think that ambushing folks with the word of God is way to evangelize. Don’t they realize that stuff just makes people think we’re all crazy?”
Oh, but you protest and say, “The wisdom of God seems foolish to those who do not know Him.” No, what is foolish is, if you put that same street corner wacko in a sports uniform, under bright lights, muscles, and career high stats—tada— he’s a prophet. He’s an icon, a regular religious super hero.
Exactly. Why does him being a superstar athlete mean that his words now mean more? It shouldn't matter any more or less what he looks like, or how successful he is at his occupation, or what occupation that is. -_-
I don’t want this to be a true statement for Christians because it means a lot more negative things than positive. For starters, it means that those Christians who are not super stars are some how less impactful for the kingdom of God. It means that though we say we are not of this world, we obviously care about the same things the world does enough to dictate our faith based values.
Then, there is the fickleness of fame and fans. Tim is winning now. What happens when he does not? Did God leave him? Is God fickle? Is he only as relevant as a sports hero’s production? Lord I hope not. I haven’t done much in my career in the last couple of years and I’d certainly like to think that Jesus still loves me just as much as he ever did. Is Tim one arm injury from evangelical impotence?
Again, bang on. Like, he just lost today. Does God like Tom Brady more? Did Tim do something wicked between Week 14 and Week 15? Where was the fourth quarter miracle comeback? The biggest problem isn't even that they've put all this on the shoulders of Tim Tebow's performance, cuz the success of the Broncos have never really been about his performance (which has ranged from sub-par to mediocre) but on the rest of the team's (now known as the Denver Tebows), the biggest problem is that they've put it all on whether his team wins or loses. Period. Irrelevant of his performance.
All of Tebow's supporters have been arguing for weeks with Tebow skeptics like Bomani Jones that it doesn't matter whether or not Tebow plays well, only that "he" wins, and that you blackbox the process basically. It doesn't matter how the sausage is made, just that you get a sausage at the end. So then you can't claim "well Tebow played well" in today's loss to the Patriots because whether or not God favours Tebow never apparently had nething to do with how WELL he played, but on whether the Broncos wound up winning. They lost. And like Dirk says, that's the danger. Does that mean God abandoned Tebow? Does that mean Denver is about to be struck down by fire from the sky? Is the Broncos gatorade going to turn into blood? (That'd be hilarious)
That's the reason that Tebow has frustrated a lot of people (both non-Christians and Christians who don't buy into the Tebow thing). It's not "haters will hate" like his supporters have claimed. It's not that atheists hate Tim's message and want him to lose. It's not really about Tim. It's about what Tim has become to evangelical Christians. He's their Golden Calf (I thought God warned against idols) and "his" wins are presented as proof. It doesn't just annoy non-Christians, it annoys football fans! It annoys me as a fan of sports that actual ANALYSIS of the games are being thrown out because HEY THE TEAM WON THEREFORE THE QUARTERBACK IS A LUCKY PENNY! -_- It's going BACKWARDS. Forget religion vs science. This is religion vs sports analysis. How does one position, where the guy doesn't even play defense, get ALL the credit? -_- (and now that he's lost, his team is getting the blame...)
I don't think people wanted him to lose because they hate Christians, I think people wanted probability to finally catch up with the problematic way he plays and to snap people out of the delusion that this is "God's will" or magic tricks from above -_- It's kinda like how a cold summer doesn't mean global warming doesn't exist. It's just something that happened that people read meaning into. A hot winter doesn't prove that global warming DOES exist either, but if you PUT your belief into the fact that a cold summer disproves global warming, then you open yourself up that a hot winter disproves your theory.
It's the same way with Tebow. If you hinge your belief on his wins, your belief is disproven when he loses. It's a bad way to operate (also if you LIKE Tim Tebow and/or the Broncos, you should stop doing this too, because people will dislike him simply because of what you've claimed his team' wins represent).
Some might say that God is using Tim. I would say absolutely, but not more so than he uses any of us. Tim simply has a large platform to work on. A ridiculously, over hyped, over valued, over relevant platform that, at anytime could pop like the 2008 housing bubble and leave people so disenchanted with the faith they’ll rue the day Tebow ever claimed Jesus as his own.
Finally, ask yourself: what if Tim was Muslim? Then what kind of reaction would you have to all of this my dear evangelical friend? Would he suddenly be a vessel of the devil? Would this terrify the country? Would his success give credence to the radical agenda? Would Focus On The Family start an, in *love of course, slandering add campaign?
God does not favor the popular. He does not give preferential treatment to the celebrity. If he did, he would not be the God is today. He humbles the proud, he lifts up the meek, and he loves us all, sinner, saint, and sports hero the same—yesterday, today, and forever. That is why he is an awesome God, not because Tim Tebow throws touchdowns for Him.
There are people with a heart for the Lord, just like Tim’s, around us every day. And there are people who are quiet and meek and content with thankless service as well.
Yes. Exactly. If you are a Christian, this is how you should see not just this case, but life in general. Famous Christians are not "better" Christians or more important Christians or more "representative" of God than any OTHER Christian! Nor do what they do = God's will. (Except Christ, but he's a special case XD ) And as stated above, it's dangerous to start playing that game.
One more thing. I wonder if the super bowl ad where the Tebow narrative was created, the one where his mother talked about how doctors had tried to convince her to have an abortion and she didn't and Tim was the result, has anything to do with a lot of ppl's need to make him into a player of destiny. Even after the loss today, there were people on the radio talking about what players you need, or what defense you need, or etc ways to protect Tim Tebow and allow him to continue playing even if he can't play well. WHY? WHY not find a better mediocre quarterback to take his place? If the Broncos release him will there be a clamor for SOME team to sign him? Does he have some sort of human right to play professional football? -_-
It's the stuff I heard on the radio today, people TRYING to make this work, that makes me wonder... b/c he's the chosen child, "saved" from abortion, is his career in the NFL not just a vehicle that people are pinning their proof of God hopes on but also this idea that he's a "chosen one" and therefore it's his destiny, one way or another, to be a great QB? :\
I have no opinion on Tim Tebow as a person. I don't know him. I disagree with the stances of his I know of (anti-abortion), but whether he wins or loses doesn't bug me. I don't WANT him to fail because of his faith. But it's the WAY that he's being used, the way the narrative is being twisted to obscure the truth (what happened in the game, how he played, how many missed passes he threw) in order to further an agenda. As Dirk pointed out, even if you're a huge evangelical Christian you should hate how this is being done because if Tebow flames out... where's your messiah now?
People rightfully think that it'd be foolish to put your entire life savings on the outcome of a football game. Why would you gamble your faith on one?
’Scuse my antipodean ignorance, I take it this is the guy who genuflects and prays on field every time he does something like score a goal or whatever? Matthew 6:5 springs to mind: “… verily I say unto you, they have their reward.” How awful and crass. My mother prays whenever she needs a free car space at the supermarket, and there usually is one, so obviously IT WAS MEANT TO BE.
ReplyDeleteDoes Christ himself count as a Christian, though? o.o
ReplyDeleteStuff like this definitely needs to be said, though, and Xanthe's Bible quote above is a good one. >.>b Jesus specifically said "don't do this" and he's doing is and saying that it's for Jesus.
Also I think you make a great point about the abortion thing, and it'd be good to see what their preachers say ... if mine had told me that this guy was destined, it'd have been pretty danged hard for me to shake that belief.
hi, Ami!!!!
ReplyDeletegreat post about the Tebow phenomenon. interesting that today he and his team lost, but they still managed to back into the playoffs because another team (Oakland Raiders) also lost.
for a great example of this "God is on our side" thing being done with a whole team...i present the University of Notre Dame Fightin' Irish. Since Notre Dame is a Roman Catholic school, many of its sports fans honestly believe that the Christian God/Jesus Christ wants the Irish teams to win. Adjacent to the ND football stadium is another campus building with a mural of Jesus with his arms raised in a similar manner to a football official signaling a touchdown. This mural is referred to by the Irish faithful as, i kid you not, "Touchdown Jesus."
As a fan of the U of Michigan Wolverines, who regularly play against Notre Dame, i find this so arrogant and annoying, and always love it when Michigan beats Notre Dame and proves that maybe God does not really give a damn who wins a ball game.