Is God a Broncos Fan?

Last Sunday Tim Tebow, the son of former SBC missionaries and devout Christian NFL quarterback,  led the Denver Broncos to another miraculous finish over the Chicago Bears thus sparking more speculation that God must be looking over their turnaround season.

Tebows accomplishments this year have raised a lot of eyebrows around the NFL:

• He's now 7-1 after becoming the starting quarterback for Denver.
• The team was 1-4 before Tebow and most thought their season was over before he took the reigns.
• They now lead their division with an 8-5 record and are favored to make the playoffs.
• Despite a very low passer rating and one of the worst completion ratios in the league, Tebow seems to always find a way to win.
• Tebow has led his team to come from behind wins in dramatic fashion in the final minutes of the last four games.
• It's not just that he wins games, it's HOW he wins games that makes people think God must be on his side.  For instance, last Sunday all the Bears had to do was run out the clock but their star running back Marion Barber inexplicably ran out of bounds and gave Tebow and the Broncos time to tie the game.  In overtime, Barber fumbled the ball when his team was in field goal range to ice the game.  Tebow responded by leading his team down the field for a winning field goal.
• In all of his interviews, Tebow gives credit to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the victory.  

I'm a Tebow fan.  I love how he stands up for his faith and how he uses his platform as an athlete to talk about what's most important in his life.   His boldness for the gospel is getting mixed reviews however.  Even the New York Times has pointed out that the opposition to Tebow seems a little inflated when one considers the other cast of characters around the league: 

"The intensity of the derision strikes me as unwarranted, in that it outdoes anything directed at, say, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, accused repeatedly of sexual assault, or other players actually convicted of burglary, gun possession and other crimes. In a league full of blithe felons, Tebow and his oppressive piety don’t seem like such horrendous affronts at all.  (Frank Bruni, New York Times, December 10, 2011)

Two questions come to mind regarding the Tebow craze:

First, Is it right for Tebow to talk about his faith in such a public way?

Why would it not be?  As Christians we believe that all other truth fades under the glare of that one brilliant truth that God loves us and died on the cross for our sin.  So if a person has truly bought into the truth of the gospel, they have no choice but to center their entire being on the reality of what Christ has accomplished on their behalf.  So in this regard Tebow is only doing what comes natural for any follower of Christ.

Because we believe in the truth of the gospel, we believe that Christianity cannot be moderately important.  It is either of ultimate importance or it is a lie and a hoax.  There is no middle ground for us. It would be hypocritical and dishonest of us not to talk about our faith.

And for those who criticize him for expressing his passion,  I would ask "what's wrong with passion?"

People are passionate about all kinds of things whether it's fashion, art, politics, music, sports, money, sex, or self-aggrandizement (the passion of choice for most sports celebrities).

Tebow lives in a world of superstar athletes who continually vie for public attention to promote their own particular brand for personal gain.  It's the sad nature of professional sports today.  This is just one of the things that makes Tebow stand out as an NFL player.  He is a guy of superstar status who regularly makes the headlines but continually deflects the glory away from himself.

For example, after the win last Sunday he told the press,  "My teammates make me look better than I am".

How often do you hear that coming from a marquee athlete after a game?

Kyle Grant is an ESPN blogger who points out that Tebow is probably the most decorated college athlete in history who exhibits all the qualities every coach dreams about such as unselfishness, leadership, determination, team mentality and work ethic and yet is also the most hated in memory.

There are numerous twitter and facebook accounts dedicated to the dislike and even hatred of Tebow.  A comedian on the Daily Show has a video that has gone viral describing how he hates Tebow as much as he hates Osama Bin Laden.

So why does Tebow make so many people crazy?  Why is he described as one of the most polarizing players in sports today?  The answer seems to be that people don't like the fact that his particular evangelical Christianity seems so intolerant and exclusive.   One recent poll showed that nearly 70% of respondents said they believe that Tebows evangelicalism is "too polarizing" for the NFL.

So in other words the hatred of Tebow stems from a particular worldview that is in play in popular culture.  This belief reflects the ethos of Western European secularism which says that everyones version of the truth is equally true and important.  Therefore those who ascribe to absolute truth such as what is taught in evangelicalism are therefore thought of as "intolerant."

As I have pointed out many times on this blog, that belief in and of itself is also narrow and intolerant.   Ironically, the tolerance motif is especially intolerant of intolerance.

Everyone has belief that is narrow and exclusive whether they want to admit to it or not.  The person who says "I don't believe in absolute truth" is in fact articulating an absolute truth.  The person who says "I don't think a person should push his or her beliefs off on other people" is pushing his belief off on other people.  As C.S. Lewis points out,

“You can’t go on “seeing through” things forever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. To “see through” all things is the same as not to see.”

So to the question "is it right for Tebow to proclaim his belief?"  I would answer that of course it is!  Anyone who says his belief is too exclusive and narrow is being hypocritical about their own exclusivity and narrowness.

A second question relates to the nature of God and His particular grace.  Does God care about football games?   The words "divine intervention" are being used by sports writers describing Broncos wins these days.  Could this be true?  Is God pouring down his special blessing on the Broncos football team in order to show favor on one of his choicest servants?

The simple answer to this is of course not.  The BIble teaches that God does not play favorites, that His ways are not our ways and that the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:44).  To say that God has special interest in a football game is a ridiculous proposition.  Tebow himself has made this clear in interviews.

The question itself reveals a simplistic understanding in Christianity that points to a bigger issue.  That is the belief among many people that if one just prays hard enough and believes the right way and does the right things, God will rain down his blessings.

This is the belief that "if I do my part God will do his part" that is so destructive in some circles of American Christianity.  It is man-centered works based religion that flies in the face of conventional biblical doctrine.

Scripture teaches us that God is sovereign and that He sees our life from the perspective of eternity and that His will and ways are not dependent upon our whims and wishes.  God does not plan His day around our concerns.  In fact, God exists in eternity and is not bound by time and space and the limitations we experience in this life.  He sees our life's beginning and ending all at once.

There is actually a direct answer in scripture to the question of whether God chooses sides. In Joshua 5:13-20 we have an account of Joshua asking the commander of the Lord's host "are you for us or against us?" as he was preparing for a battle with the army of Jericho.  It was a great question that all of us naturally have as we go into any battle:  "Whose side are you on anyway God?"  Maybe you've asked that questions a few times yourself?  "God, are you for me or against me?"  is a question most people ask at some point in their life.

The answer he was given was "neither."  

I have always found that to be a fascinating answer.  God does not pick sides in the battles we fight in this life.  He is only interested in seeing His will carried out in our lives no matter what the circumstance.  One of the most important life lessons any of us can ever learn is that God is not as interested in our circumstances as He is interested in our character.   Look at what the Bible teaches in James 1:2:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

God uses our circumstances to forge something greater in us than what we can see or understand in this life.  Sometimes losing the game accomplishes a greater eternal reward.

So in other words Christian doctrine teaches us that it would have been just as appropriate for Marion Barber to give God the glory for His game losing fumble as it was for Tebow to give God glory for the game winning drive last Sunday.   Sometimes life's fumbles teach us more than life's game winning drives.  I know that has certainly been true of my life!

So let's applaud Tebow for his strong stand and bold faith as a genuine follower of Jesus, but let's do it in a way that does not mislead people into believing that we think that somehow God is a Broncos fan.