Praying for Tim Tebow

This Is How I'm Praying For Tim Tebow
by Jason Cruise

The media's fascination with Tim Tebow is, to me, fascinating. I cannot help but grin when I watch skeptics, football commentators, and every other two-bit blogger offer their highly professional, and most often incredibly immature "never have taken a snap in my life but you should listen to me" analysis of Tebow's success. Sports media junkies simply do not know what to do with him.

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Bradshaw was a sandlot-style player who wasn't always pretty to watch, but he was a winner. People hailed him as the greatest, and he certainly was one of the best. So they put him in the Hall of Fame. Brett Favre should be the poster child for every kid who has played ball in the front yard because Favre re-invented the idea that you can have sloppy mechanics at times, throw a ball end over end to complete a pass to make the play happen, and yet be a champion. They call him one of the greatest, and he has proven to be. Yet neither Bradshaw or Favre, as great as they were or have been at the position, were able to run the ball anywhere close to Tebow's level. Making Tebow an ever greater asset. Tebow and the Broncos, at the time of my writing this article, are 7-1, and yet it's not enough. Prophesy for the future sports fans ... he could be 50-1 and it will never, ever be enough ... but not because of Tim. It has nothing to do with Tim.
 
So what's really going on here? This is what I think everyone should know.

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Tim Tebow is going to fail us. He will at some point, because he's just a man. So be careful, Christian community, because Tim isn't the messiah, and he has no desire to try and be Jesus. He's a sinner who is a Jesus follower. So Tim won't always live up to our expectations because we don't live up to our own. So when he does mess up, on the field or off, I hope to see as much Christian buzz on Facebook supporting him with his failures as I do now with his victories, as we celebrate a restored brother as much as did with one who's winning at the moment.

Tim Tebow is a living example of what happens to a person when they decide that a relationship with God is worth talking about publicly. Enter the caveat of him being a NFL quarterback, and you've got a spotlight the size of the sun on you at all times.

Tim Tebow is proof of the words of Christ. "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you." (John 15:18)

This is the reason Tim Tebow is under so much scrutiny.

In the sports world, you can be an accessory to murder (Ray  Lewis), you can admit guilt with animal cruelty (Michael Vick), you can  send pornographic text messages and still get a contract (Brett Favre),  and the list goes on, and on, and on. As long as you can help a franchise win, you are given a pass on virtually every level of depravity known to man. Just don't claim the name of  Christ. If you do ... you're going to get every possible attack thrown  at you that you can imagine. 

If he were a Muslim, he'd be off limits to any ... and I mean ANY ... discussion about his faith. If he were being attacked as a Muslim, our nation's president would most likely comment on it. If he were being ridiculed for wearing the Star of David on his wristband, he'd get some heat, but not much. If he were wearing a rainbow in support of the Gay and Lesbian community, he'd be hailed as a global, tolerant hero. He may even win TIME MAGAZINE's Man of the Year for that one.

Yet if he happens to be someone who supports purity, lives a life that is orphan-conscious, and values being a class act, he's mocked to the point that even when he gets sacked by Detroit's linebacker Stephen Tulloch, Tulloch gets down on one knee to mock Tebow and his God. Only to see it happen again a few plays later by Lion's tight end Matt Stafford. 
No friends. What you're seeing here is a world that simply doesn't know what to do with Tim Tebow because they don't know what to do with Tim's God. Therefore, they mock, because, for now, that God is allowing them to do it. That won't always be the case.

God has already spoken to Tim's situation. Here's what He's said:

For the word of the cross is  foolishness to  those who  are perishing, but to us who  are being saved it is  the power of God. - 1 Corinthians 1:18

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,  being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. - Romans 1:28-32

Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. - John 15:20-21

So here's how I'm praying for Tim Tebow.

"Lord Jesus, protect Tim. Protect his body from injury and his character from assault, so that critics are dumbfounded by his success, speechless at his level of play, and confused by his methods on the field. Do it Lord, but not because Tim is an amazing champion and a world class human being, but do it to silence Your enemies who mock Your name and do it for the glory that You deserve." 

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