WWTD? What Would Tebow Do?
By: Grant Dorsey
He’s a gamer…. he’s a baller….he’s a player maker…a shot caller. If you see these words then you may recognize who I am talking about: Tim Tebow, the most talked about quarterback in the NFL. Good or bad, you will hear many opinions of him. Either it’s the non-Christian saying they’re tired of him putting his faith in everything he does and just want him to fail, or you have the Christians who like him because he puts his faith in everything. There are some Christians though that don’t like what the people, media, and fans have made him into: an idol.
One of the controversial actions is his patented praying style on the field. Before, during, and after the game he gets on one knee and puts his head on his closed fist and prays, a move that has been termed “Tebowing.” Some people worry that when the fans of Tim Tebow or the people making fun of him are mocking him, it is kind of making fun of God. To me, it’s a sign of honoring Tim Tebow, and then by honoring him you are honoring God. Plus, let’s say someone wanted to know what “Tebowing” was. So they Google it. Google shows that it is to pray, and then they want to know what praying is. So they Google prayer and it says it’s a way to communicate or talk to God. Then they want to know who God is and so they keep researching until they come to a place where they want to make a personal decision of faith. In my eyes, it is worth it if even one person chooses to follow Christ because of another person living their faith publicly.
Then there’s his open confession about being a Christian and starting every interview with, “I first want to start off by thanking my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” A lot of Christians don’t complain about this, but they do bring up that he’s the only Christian football player confessing like he is, which leads me to this: How much influence can one person have? Is he starting a trend? There are a lot of football players that profess being a Christian. Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers’ Aaron Smith and Troy Polomalu, and the quarterback who helped win the super bowl last year, Greenbay Packers Aaron Rodgers are some examples of those following in Tebow’s footsteps and profession of faith on the field and off. We don’t know if they have been this open in the past but he is leading the way and possibly making it easier for Christians to profess their faith for those who don’t already do it. Being a positive influence can lead non-Christian players to ask questions and see that people can be Christians and still do cool things.
Finally, there’s the fact that some think there is no such thing as “divine intervention” showing up in games. For example, some Christians would say God does not care about football or who wins or loses, and I would agree. God has a lot more important stuff to do. But you can’t tell me win after win, comeback after comeback, there is no sign of God intervening. One example is that it is common to hear over and over again that he (Tim Tebow) can’t play, so he shouldn’t be a quarterback. What does Tebow do? He proves people wrong every time you turn around. Haters become believers by watching him excel in his God given athletic abilities. Tim Tebow proved this again a couple of weeks ago when he beat the best defense in the NFL this year, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then, that same night, he threw 316 yards and also averaged 31.6 yards per completion. Some people have pointed out that those stats looked like a direct reference to John 3:16 from the Bible, which became the largest Google search after Tebow did that. Divine intervention or coincidence? You can’t tell me that a higher power wasn’t at work with that.
After everything is said and done, Tim Tebow would have to go on my list of favorite athletes if not at the top. Not because all he does is win or because other people, the media, and the fans made him into an idol, but because who he is and what he stands for both on and off of the field.
