Does Tim Tebow’s Faith Make Him Great?

Everyone’s Talking These Days

In case you missed it, Tim Tebow is a Christian.

But if you did miss it, you have either been sequestered with a jury on a high profile case, or you just landed from Mars.

People of all faiths are cheering for Tebow these days.

Whether they love him or hate him (and whether they love or hate his Christianity), Americans are currently obsessed with the missionary’s kid from Florida. Just today ESPN reported that Tim Tebow is currently ranked as America’s most popular athlete. That is apparently pretty impressive if your last name isn’t Jordan, Woods, or James. Also, not too bad for a “goody two shoes Christian.”

It’s not just Broncos fans or fanatic Christians either. Last Sunday I was at the airport in Atlanta during the Broncos-Steelers game. I stopped for a bite to eat and to watch the game. As the game was drawing toward the end more and more were gathering to see if Tebow “could do it again.” There was only one guy at the restaurant cheering for the Steelers, and everyone else–even a guy in a Dolphins jersey–was cheering every move of of the Denver QB. I could have done cartwheels down the concourse unnoticed. No one would have seen. Eyes were glued to TV monitors as random shouts and cheers could be heard from gate to gate throughout the airport.

Then there’s the media. Oh boy. Everyone wants a crack at a good Tebow story. (And here I am, too. Guilty as charged I guess.) Rick Reilly juxtaposed Tom Brady and Tim Tebow in a column that made for good reading but where only the last two sentences mattered:  “They play Sunday. Who do you like?” I suppose the article could be reprinted today if he just changed “Sunday” to “Saturday” since the two QBs are about to duel again tomorrow.

Not every article or conversation is as jovial. Last December Charles P. Pierce blasted Tim Tebow and Christianity with an article that argued that his faith ought to be fair game for criticism, critique, and mockery, too. As an American only, I’ll concede to Pierce that he does at least have the right as an American citizen to say whatever spills from his mind to his keyboard. But as a Christian pastor, I must say that the article was ridiculous, ill-informed, and filled with the bigotry he charged Tebow with.