Theology Blog

Tim Tebow seems to make the news quite a bit and has been a conversation point for years now. Its been interesting as well as nauseating to read, hear and see all of the stuff about this one person, athlete and Christ-follower. I do not know Tim personally nor have I met him. Neither have most of the people who hate him or praise him. I cannot comment much on his character, faith or even maturity and what I would offer in those areas would be based solely on what I see.

What I see is a nice kid who loves Jesus and is eternally hopeful. Good for him. Positive is helpful and good. I also see someone who is not made to be an NFL quarterback and has handled NFL rejection well, but Christian celebrity poorly. The fact that any Christian would continue to not speak out against a fad of kneeling on one knee and calling it ‘tebowing’ when all the young man was doing was praying is sickening as it cheapens prayer and misses the point completely. In even my most cynical moments, that’s the most I could criticize Tim Tebow for personally.

The problem is not Tim Tebow, but the church and equally if not more immature pastors and leaders in the church that seem to worship Tim and talk about him even more than Jesus. I am not sure why there is a need in the church to worship or go crazy over someone who is public about their faith. There are arguments for and against both public and private expression of faith. I can value both perspectives while holding my own. What I find frustrating is this notion of Christian celebrity and the churches unfiltered praise and worship of it. It does not seem to make sense to me, particularly from a theological perspective. I think the church is doing itself, its people, Tim Tebow and the general public a disservice by paying so much attention to sound bites and Christian celebrity and so little attention to theological reflection.

Just one guys opinion…