Christ, Football, and Culture

My sister-in-law told me that she recently saw an ESPN interview with Tim Tebow, Heisman winning quarterback for the University of Florida, where he spoke about his faith. It is great to see such a great guy become so successful. It is also neat to see him use his fame as a football player to promote Christ- an example of Christ Above Culture.

This reminds me of a time when I met another famous quarterback. Although he is not famous enough for me to actually remember his name, he played for the Bills (I think) as a backup quarterback. Through a series of coincidences he ended up playing a playoff game and helped his team win, despite the predictions to the contrary. With his success, this quarterback used his moment of glory to point to Christ.

Then came the next game. He lost it terribly. I guess it was even his fault. Who gets the glory when we lose? He gave it to God and learned a valuable lesson- God doesn’t just love winners.

Not that Tebow has done this but sometimes I think we convey the wrong message when Christians promote Christ through their successes. It implies that if you believe in Christ you, too, will be successful like this. There is no such promise in the Scriptures. In fact, Jesus tells us that we are to take up our cross and if he was persecuted we should expect the same. This doesn’t mean we are doomed to troubles, but merely that sometimes God brings troubles in the same way he brings success. As Job said, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.“