Tebow or Rodgers: Football & Faith

Madetomatter Devotional & Update
 December 8, 2011

Tebow or Rodgers: Football & Faith
by Randy Kilgore
 
     Tim Tebow isn't supposed to be winning games in the National Football League, experts keep telling anyone who will listen. Tebow was wildly successful as a college quarterback, helping his team to two national championships and winning the coveted Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Trophy awards. So when the Denver Broncos drafted him last year, the sports world watched with more than mild curiosity to see how it might work out.
 
     My, how it's worked-at least this far: The Broncos are 6-1 with Tebow at quarterback and have moved from last place to first place with him at the QB slot. What's exciting, too, is the world that knows Tebow can play football also knows he loves Jesus Christ, because he takes every opportunity to express that love publicly.
 
     Therein lies the rub for many, though.
 
     Should Tebow keep quiet about his faith? Fellow quarterback Aaron Rodgers (of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers) thinks so, quoting St. Francis of Assissi on his ESPN radio show in Milwaukee, as quoted by CNN/Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King** (see Bold point 9 on page 5). Rodgers and Tebow are both men of faith, and they represent the two sides of an argument Christians who work have been debating for decades, if not centuries. Rogers quotes St. Francis of Assissi, who is reported to have said: "Preach the Gospel always; if necessary, use words." Rogers then goes on to suggest that he wants his personal life and behavior to cause people to ask questions about his faith, and then he feels like it's appropriate to share his beliefs.
Tebow, on the other hand, candidly and tirelessly tells reporter after reporter the same thing: He is so over-the-top grateful for His Savior that he can't help but express his love for Him at every opportunity.
 
     So who's right?
 
     Well, in most cases, Scripture would argue for Tebow's actions, though clearly there are times when God says to be silent, and there are people whom God tells to witness silently, so only Aaron Rodgers is in a position to judge Aaron Rodgers' decision.
 
     Here's why we say that:
(1) When Christians quote St. Francis, we imply (unintentionally) that Christians are living better, holier, cleaner or nobler lives than those who aren't Christians. As a workplace chaplain, I often hear from people of other faiths-and no faith-who are offended by this idea.
(2) Our lives are to be lived as ambassadors of the Savior, to be sure, meaning we should be attempting to live obedient to God's Word. However, at the end of the day we want people to be looking to Christ as an example to emulate, and not ourselves. Moral lives do make people think of faith, and in a Christian society the default faith they think of is Christianity, so there is some truth to the idea that a pointing to Christ occurs when we seek to live more obedient lives. However, Scripture teaches we are never good enough to merit salvation, and we're also never good enough to keep it. That's why it's called grace-unmerited favor bestowed on us by a loving Savior.
(3) Jesus reminds us that if our motive for silence is embarrassment or shame, then He will be ashamed to acknowledge us as He sits at the right hand of the Father advocating for His children. (Luke 9:26) In other words, we should be publicly professing our love for Him.
(4) In Scripture after Scripture, God instructs His children to spread the good news of the love of God and the grace made possible by Jesus Christ. In fact, the feeling one gets is that talking about God should permeate our existence, as in Deuteronomy 6:4-8; Acts 1:8, and Matthew 28:19-20.
(5) Imagine passing a city ordinance in Boston making it illegal to talk about the Boston Red Sox (insert your favorite city and sports team here) at work. Boston is so passionate about baseball and their beloved Red Sox, they cannot help but talk about them on the job. For those of us who have experienced grace, our hearts should be exploding at the chance to express our passion, which is precisely how Tim Tebow has always described his own desire to talk about God.
(6) Plus, for those who believe in a literal Hell (as we here at Madetomatter believe Scripture teaches), there's yet another reason for public and frequent proclamation: Love. We believe our friends and loved ones are headed to a place so terrible that we are being disloyal and unloving (in our hearts) if we're not taking every reasonable and respectful opportunity to point out the danger and the detour around it.
So Tim Tebow is entirely within the realms of appropriate behavior and Scriptural commands when he shares his faith in the ways he has so far; and Christians everywhere should be praying for and encouraging him in those efforts.
 
     As for Aaron Rodgers, it sounds like he's carefully considered what God wants from him, and we would never presume to second-guess him. Or St. Francis, who actually means by his words this truth: Make sure your deeds are consistent with your words; and that your words are consistent with your deeds.
 
     Something we should all remember.
 
--Randy Kilgore
Randy@madetomatter.org
www.madetomatter.org
 
**King goes out of his way to give his readers enough information to fairly judge individuals and actions he reports on; and generally avoids the 'piling on' that occurs when somebody stumbles. For example, while it appears King supports Rodgers' opinion on faith and football, his comments on Tebow in the first page of the same article are carefully chosen words aimed at painting Tebow respectfully and without caricature.
 
For more on this topic, including times Christians shouldn't talk about God at work, see here.
 
Want to comment on this week's devotion, or ask questions of our chaplain and senior writer, Randy Kilgore ? Click here and scroll down to the comments form at the bottom of the page.
Don't miss our latest piece over at Our Daily Bread, on how the Navy honors and remembers Pearl Harbor, and how Jesus gave us instructions on how to honor and remember His sacrifice, too. 
    
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Tebow or Rodgers: Football & Faith
by Randy Kilgore
 
     Tim Tebow isn't supposed to be winning games in the National Football League, experts keep telling anyone who will listen. Tebow was wildly successful as a college quarterback, helping his team to two national championships and winning the coveted Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Trophy awards. So when the Denver Broncos drafted him last year, the sports world watched with more than mild curiosity to see how it might work out.
 
     My, how it's worked-at least this far: The Broncos are 6-1 with Tebow at quarterback and have moved from last place to first place with him at the QB slot. What's exciting, too, is the world that knows Tebow can play football also knows he loves Jesus Christ, because he takes every opportunity to express that love publicly.
 
     Therein lies the rub for many, though.
 
     Should Tebow keep quiet about his faith? Fellow quarterback Aaron Rodgers (of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers) thinks so, quoting St. Francis of Assissi on his ESPN radio show in Milwaukee, as quoted by CNN/Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King** (see Bold point 9 on page 5). Rodgers and Tebow are both men of faith, and they represent the two sides of an argument Christians who work have been debating for decades, if not centuries. Rogers quotes St. Francis of Assissi, who is reported to have said: "Preach the Gospel always; if necessary, use words." Rogers then goes on to suggest that he wants his personal life and behavior to cause people to ask questions about his faith, and then he feels like it's appropriate to share his beliefs.
Tebow, on the other hand, candidly and tirelessly tells reporter after reporter the same thing: He is so over-the-top grateful for His Savior that he can't help but express his love for Him at every opportunity.
 
     So who's right?
 
     Well, in most cases, Scripture would argue for Tebow's actions, though clearly there are times when God says to be silent, and there are people whom God tells to witness silently, so only Aaron Rodgers is in a position to judge Aaron Rodgers' decision.
 
     Here's why we say that:
(1) When Christians quote St. Francis, we imply (unintentionally) that Christians are living better, holier, cleaner or nobler lives than those who aren't Christians. As a workplace chaplain, I often hear from people of other faiths-and no faith-who are offended by this idea.
(2) Our lives are to be lived as ambassadors of the Savior, to be sure, meaning we should be attempting to live obedient to God's Word. However, at the end of the day we want people to be looking to Christ as an example to emulate, and not ourselves. Moral lives do make people think of faith, and in a Christian society the default faith they think of is Christianity, so there is some truth to the idea that a pointing to Christ occurs when we seek to live more obedient lives. However, Scripture teaches we are never good enough to merit salvation, and we're also never good enough to keep it. That's why it's called grace-unmerited favor bestowed on us by a loving Savior.
(3) Jesus reminds us that if our motive for silence is embarrassment or shame, then He will be ashamed to acknowledge us as He sits at the right hand of the Father advocating for His children. (Luke 9:26) In other words, we should be publicly professing our love for Him.
(4) In Scripture after Scripture, God instructs His children to spread the good news of the love of God and the grace made possible by Jesus Christ. In fact, the feeling one gets is that talking about God should permeate our existence, as in Deuteronomy 6:4-8; Acts 1:8, and Matthew 28:19-20.
(5) Imagine passing a city ordinance in Boston making it illegal to talk about the Boston Red Sox (insert your favorite city and sports team here) at work. Boston is so passionate about baseball and their beloved Red Sox, they cannot help but talk about them on the job. For those of us who have experienced grace, our hearts should be exploding at the chance to express our passion, which is precisely how Tim Tebow has always described his own desire to talk about God.
(6) Plus, for those who believe in a literal Hell (as we here at Madetomatter believe Scripture teaches), there's yet another reason for public and frequent proclamation: Love. We believe our friends and loved ones are headed to a place so terrible that we are being disloyal and unloving (in our hearts) if we're not taking every reasonable and respectful opportunity to point out the danger and the detour around it.
So Tim Tebow is entirely within the realms of appropriate behavior and Scriptural commands when he shares his faith in the ways he has so far; and Christians everywhere should be praying for and encouraging him in those efforts.
 
     As for Aaron Rodgers, it sounds like he's carefully considered what God wants from him, and we would never presume to second-guess him. Or St. Francis, who actually means by his words this truth: Make sure your deeds are consistent with your words; and that your words are consistent with your deeds.
 
     Something we should all remember.
 
--Randy Kilgore
Randy@madetomatter.org
www.madetomatter.org
 
**King goes out of his way to give his readers enough information to fairly judge individuals and actions he reports on; and generally avoids the 'piling on' that occurs when somebody stumbles. For example, while it appears King supports Rodgers' opinion on faith and football, his comments on Tebow in the first page of the same article are carefully chosen words aimed at painting Tebow respectfully and without caricature.
 
For more on this topic, including times Christians shouldn't talk about God at work, see here.
 
Want to comment on this week's devotion, or ask questions of our chaplain and senior writer, Randy Kilgore ? Click here and scroll down to the comments form at the bottom of the page.