In recent months one name has popped up in the world of sports that, at least in the observation of this writer, has shown a unique penchant for polarizing football fans into one of two camps: diehard supporters or vehement detractors. That name is Tim Tebow. And no matter on which side of the fence you happen to fall, if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll have to admit that the primary source of this polarizing effect comes not from his arguable level of skill or his oft proven talent, but from the way in which he overtly demonstrates his faith in God by living it out in the public square.
The fascination with his ‘living faith’ (which he has displayed in various ways, such as the use of Bible verses in his eye black or the now infamous “Te-bow”) has been the subject of numerous articles and sports news stories. There’s even a term that’s been coined to describe this fascination – “Tebowmania.”
But all this came to a peak a few weeks back following the AFC wild-card game between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Once the game was essentially over following an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime, there was a myriad of interesting stats which emerged that would have sports commentators and fans alike amazed and wondering whether it was merely coincidence.
For example, Tim threw for a total of 316 yards and set a new NFL playoff passing record with 31.6 yards per completion. One article described it as “an eerie allusion to the Bible’s John 3: 16 passage — whose number Tebow famously wore in the black under his eyes when he led the Florida Gators to victory in the 2009 collegiate national championship game.” (1) Over the week following, sports-centered TV and radio broadcasts were buzzing with the story and the internet exploded with article after article, so much so that 316 and Tebow related searches topped the Google Trends list for several days.
Tebowmania was reaching new heights!
Yet getting back to reality, Tim Tebow is no more special than any other football player and no more special than you or me…at least in the eyes of God, anyway. He is simply a guy who takes his relationship with God seriously, who truly believes what he says he believes and has no qualms about other people seeing him live it. Regrettably, this is often not true for far too many professing Christians today, which is what makes him such a spectacle in the eyes of the world.
God has not gifted him with some sort of “mystical” ability to perform on the football field in order to make a point about the overt practice of one’s faith, as has been inferred by some. Nor is he some sort of “special messenger” sent to prove the power of faith by winning football games. If he were, he would hold every performance record imaginable and the teams he’s played for would be boasting of perfect winning records.
But this is clearly not the case.
Frankly, God doesn’t really care whether Tim Tebow and the Broncos, or any other sports team for that matter, wins or loses games. No matter how much some of us may wish that He was, God is not about football or winning and losing. Nor is He about bringing attention to Tim Tebow.
God is about glorifying His own name among the nations, through the proclamation of His own Word.
The method in which He chooses to do this, who He uses to accomplish it and His timing in bringing His plans to fruition are often so far beyond what you or I can imagine, it’s sometimes laughable. The scale on which He works is so much larger than anything we could possibly dream up, and certainly so much bigger than any single individual, even a true believer like Tim Tebow.
[This reminds me of a story about a few men who wanted to be used of God and a flood, but that’s a story for another day]
Which brings me back to the aftermath of the playoff game and the sports world’s fascination with Tim Tebow.
My own curiosity about the number of “coincidental” statistics led me to view a couple of news reports and to read a few articles on the internet. But as I watched and read, I began to notice an amazing pattern which prompted me to look farther and dig deeper. And what I discovered was truly incredible.
In article after article and one sports news report after another (both here and abroad), the discussion of the Tebow statistics invariably led to the John 3:16 verse being quoted somewhere within the article or report!
For example, the article I quoted above put it this way, “…the 3: 16 passage (“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”)….” (1) Whether singing the praises of Tim Tebow, speculating about the possibility of some sort of divine intervention in the game, lamenting the wasting of time promoting such silly speculations, or decrying the very allusion to anything religious in sports reporting (as was the case with one voraciously anti-Christian commentator), all made reference to and quoted from the Bible passage, without fail.
While many were fascinated with the obvious religiosity of Tim Tebow, God had a plan. While many were distracted with fanciful ideas about some unusual football statistics, God was moving, as he always is, to complete His plan.
By the end of the week following the game, literally thousands of sports news reports, articles and commentaries, broadcast through every available media all across the globe, had quoted John 3:16 – the verse that many consider to be the focal point of the entire Gospel. And in the process they had unknowingly (and in many cases, unwillingly) participated in God’s plan to glorify His name among the nations by the proclaiming of His Word!
So how did the week of Tebowmania end? With a nail-biting, Tebow-driven victory for the Broncos, once again? No, the fervor over Tim Tebow quickly faded after a 45-10 loss of the Broncos to the New England Patriots. But not before our God had put His own exclamation point on the entire narrative.
In case you missed it, the Colorado-based ministry organization, Focus on the Family, produced a very simple, but powerful ad featuring various children reciting John 3:16 in their own words. (2)
Ads of this type have been rejected before, but with the flurry surrounding Tim Tebow, CBS willingly made an exception to its own policy and aired the ad, which ran during an open spot in the second quarter of the game. The same second quarter that has since been reported to have been one of, if not the most watched quarters of any post-season football game, in history.
In all, it is reported that Tebow-related internet searches for “John 3:16” have reached into the 100’s of millions.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55, 8-11 (NASB)
(1) http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/01/09/tim-tebows-316-passing-yards-evoke-biblical-number/
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