FriendBurst Blog

He’s one of them Bible thumping, proselytizing, you’re-going-to-Hell Jesus Freaks. In a football player, he’s one of those who thanks Jesus for every touchdown or victory, shooting fingers up to the sky in celebration as if Jesus were somewhere up there in the rafters. On the surface, one might wonder about the appropriateness of thanking Jesus for every touchdown.  Does Jesus really care about sports?  Is Jesus up there, acting as some unseen hand influencing the outcomes of sporting events?  If so, the guys in Las Vegas who run the sports book would really like to talk to Him.

There is a corollary to thanking Jesus for each and every success as if the Lord were somehow responsible for the outcome of a ballgame.  Each and every loss or defeat would be a sign of Jesus’ displeasure.  God must hate the losing side of every sporting event if the winners are so favored in His eyes. Right?

Tebow hasn’t just been a Christian athlete.  He’s gotten out in front of groups of people and preached to them, actively inviting them to do what he has done, and submit to Jesus as a personal Lord and savior. He’s used his position as a famous athlete to promote his extreme religious views.  He’s not an athlete who will just hold hand at the end of the game and thank God that no one got hurt, he’s the kind who knocks on your door with Bible in hand and says that his success is proof of the sanctity of Christ.

Tim Tebow has had amazing success as a football player. In college, he won the Heisman Trophy and two national championships whilst compiling a record of 42 wins and 3 losses. His time as a pro has been remarkable in that he’s taken a team that most considered mediocre, and was very bad in the early part of this year, and turned them into a team that will likely make the playoffs.  He’s not been a spectacular quarterback in terms of what he’s most criticized for, namely throwing the football, but he’s used his running ability and leadership skills to will his team to seven of eight victories.  He’s also been very lucky.

Here’s the thing: despite his post-game comments and gestures, NONE of his success is attributable to Jesus Christ. Whatever one might think of the figure of Jesus of Nazareth, be it Son of God, wise teacher, bisexual charlatan, or a non-existent compilation of several radical Hebrew figures from two millennia ago, this much I can say for sure, this dead man’s favor or dis-favor has nothing to do with what happens on a football field on Sunday! In fact, didn’t Jesus talk some on keeping the Sabbath holy?  What are you doing running around a cow pasture with armor on?  That’s NOT honoring the day of rest!

Tebow thanks Jesus for his success.  A lot of his critics don‘t want to admit it, but they get after him for this very thing that I am overtly criticizing him for.  It’s not that he’s a running quarteback who can’t throw that bugs them.  It’s that he’s a BornAgain Christian.  Let’s just go ahead and be upfront with why we don’t like him
Tim Tebow’s team will NOT win the Super Bowl.  That means his season will END with loss and disappointment.  Are we to blame Jesus for that?  Are we to blame Tebow for masturbating after practice 18 months ago when he was just a backup?  Mind you, I don’t have any proof he whacked off before his second pre-season game last year, but it is an established fact that blowing your load with your own hand is not only a sin in the eyes of the Lord, but it will take an edge off and lead to sub-standard athletic performance.  I’ve experienced this myself.  I’m much more effective on the basketball court if I’ve gone a couple or three days without release; whacking off before athletics is a sure recipe for slow, non-aggressive play.

In the words of my personal Lord and Savior, Mike Ditka, “STOP IT!!!”