Last night, a conversation came up regarding Tim Tebow.
Now, I liked to think that a lot of Tebow-centric conversations have, inevitably, been about religion—however, I think that we can refine that: Tim Tebow conversations are largely about evangelism.
A friend of mine, Mike, a devout Christian, had noted that Tebow has seemed to buy into the hype. Some could say that his signature “Tebow pose” is an unapologetic statement of his faith—however, Mike couldn’t help but notice that Tebow always seems to catch the photo opportunity during a key moment of the game. Whenever he wins a game, he always manages to make it in view of the press corp so that they can snap the photo for the above-the-fold sports page picture in the next morning’s newspaper.
That’s where it becomes problematic for Mike.
Tebowing has become more about Tebow and less about his personal convictions.
Now, back to the evangelism thing.
What is Tim Tebow evangelizing?
Is Tim Tebow an evangelist for his lord and savior?
or….
Is Tim Tebow an evangelist for ESPN hype, endorsements, and the opportunity for a bigger contract?
I mean, let’s consider this: Tim Tebow has spent most of this season absolutely disrepected by his own organization. On the other hand, Tebow packs the stands at Mile High Stadium. All this Tebow talk really just gives Tebow, Tebow’s agent, and Tebow’s management more leverage for a better contract.
Now, I’m not questioning Tim Tebow’s conviction to his own religious beliefs. I wouldn’t take that away from him.
I guess the real question is: Does the purity of the message get muddled if the underlying motivation is publicity? Is it wrong for Tebow’s management to encourage him to exploit his faith?
All I know is back when I used to go to church, it seemed easy to get caught up in the evangelical stuff while getting bored by the message. As I got older, I felt that churches that were more about the flash and pagentry were losing sight of the overall message that was in the ancient text. It was that kind of thing that made it easy for me to walk away from religion and look at it more objectively.
Well, now that his season has been punted away by the once-booted foot of Tom Brady, we’ll see how much more Tebow-vangelism we can be exposed to.
