Friday, December 2, 2011

Tebow Time.

Perhaps one of the most controversial players in any professional sport right now is Tim Tebow, star quarterback of the Denver Broncos. For years Tebow has dominated headlines, starting in high school and continuing through college at the University of Florida, before becoming the 25th pick overall by the Denver Broncos. It's a pretty incredible story for a man that wasn't even supposed to be born, due to a medical issue when his mother was pregnant with him. 
Lately, Tebow is making the headlines even more than he previously had, and this time it's not just because of his stellar performance on the field. While he has been exceptional, leading his team to victory more times than anyone expected, especially after Kyle Orton was released and it became clear who the Broncos were pinning their hopes on, there has been another part of Tebow's performance that critics are a bit skeptical about.
The latest craze to hit the nation is "Tebowing," where people mimic Tebow's action of kneeling down and praying on the field. Another craze is mimicking him by pointing to the sky whenever something good happens, where Tebow points to heaven as if thanking God for getting the first down, making the play, whatever. 
Now, I'm not saying that I'm a sports writer. In fact, I'm far from it. I may be a girl, but at least I know some sports - mainly due to the fact that I have a 17-almost-18-year-old brother who thinks that sports make the world go round. Clearly I have some learning to do because I had to look some of this stuff up. I've seen tons of articles on Yahoo and Google, where other QBs in the league are firing harsh-sounding comments off about Tebow and his constant "church talk." In the world's eyes, once in a while is alright to thank God for what you have and what happened. But, every time? Plus pointing to the sky, and kneeling down to pray several times a game?
The other night I was reading my Bible when a few verses just seemed to jump off the page. I had read another article about Tebow earlier that day, where Kurt Warner was making a few statements towards the subject. He's a Christian too, and has thanked his Lord and Savior multiple times over the years for his time in the NFL. I guess I had Tebow on the brain, because when I read these verses, he was all I could think about:
"But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice." - Philippians 1:18.

"But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ." - Philippians 3:7.

"Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." - Galatians 1:10.
See what I mean? These verses, in my opinion, represent everything that Tebow is about.
The first verse is self-explanatory. Tebow is thanking God for what he has, and is making sure that everyone knows that this isn't his own skill and prowess that let him make it to where he is today. I mean, the guy wrote "John 3:16" on his eyeblack in the 2009 BCS Championship game, and what happened? Nearly 92 MILLION PEOPLE searched for the verse on Google. That's incredible, I don't care who you are. It led to a rule in the NFL referred to as the "Tebow Rule," where players aren't allowed to wear the stuff and write messages. But really, who cares? The point is that for one small incident, one small game, 92 MILLION people heard the message of Christ summed up in one of the best verses in the Bible: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life." That is incredible. 
This is God's plan for him, as of now. It may change someday, but that's for Him to tell Tebow, not our society. He doesn't care what people are saying - whatever he does, he's thanking God and making sure He gets the glory, not himself. That directly ties in to the verse from Galatians - it's not about Tim Tebow, star quarterback for the Denver Broncos. It's about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This leads to the other verse from Philippians - everything that Tebow has - the endorsements, the book deals, the star position on the team and all of the fame and fortune - are nothing. These things are garbage, nothing but roadblocks in his way to getting to heaven and partying hard with the Messiah for all eternity. It's a great perspective, and unfortunately, society would rather us forget about it. 
I will be the first to say that I'm still not a complete Tim Tebow fan. I'm not one to get on the bandwagon supporting him, and I'll be honest and tell you I was rooting against him and his team in the Sugar Bowl in 2010. I admire him and will acknowledge that he has mad skills, but I'm still warming up to him as a player. Since he was drafted by the Broncos, I believed that he was over-hyped. I was waiting for him to walk the walk to go along with his talking the talk and, honestly, I'm not surprised that he has so far this season. I'm warming up to him, but after reading all of the articles, watching his performance, and realizing how he isn't taking the credit himself - I'm slowly getting there. Make room on the Tebow bandwagon, because I'm soon to join.
This leads to the first NR challenge in a long, long time (sorry about that.) Evaluate yourself - are you "Tebowing" enough in your daily life? Is kneeling down and praying, thanking God for your blessings and realizing that all you have is just a roadblock keeping you from giving it all to God and getting to heaven? If you said yes to any of these questions, take a breather, put yourself on the bench, and bow your head. Listen to what God has to say. What's He telling you?
Are you in?


-Kimber.

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