Tebow never asked to be the starter this season over Kyle Orton. Never asked to have his name chanted in stadiums. All he ever said was that he’d work as hard as he could and that, as any player would, he wanted to play. It’s not his fault that he’s been a topic on sports talk shows for a year straight, tiring all the pundits out. Tebow inspires rebellion because he appears to be that thing that we all fear most: a righteous man.Read the rest.
We’re not afraid of a hyporcrite; in fact, hypocrisy relieves us. We’re hypocrites. That, we get. We fear the thing that judges us. True righteousness throws our sinfulness into sharp relief. Clearly, Tebow (and he would, no doubt, be the first to admit that he) is not truly righteous. Nonetheless, his apparent righteousness inspires hate, because it reminds us all of our shortcomings. We don’t spend every summer overseas teaching poor children about Jesus. We don’t reject endorsement deals on moral grounds. We didn’t save ourselves for marriage. We aren’t as conscientious or hard-working. And if we did or were, we’d certainly brag about it. Compared to Tim Tebow, we are all sinners.
We rebel against God for the same reason. We must run from righteousness because it will destroy us, so far from its perfection are we. In the same way that standing in a room with Brad Pitt only serves to remind us how unattractive we are, being in a relationship with God serves to remind us how unholy we are. We need Tim Tebow to fail, and so we root for it, so that he can be shown to be imperfect, just like us.
Monday, October 24, 2011
The Real Reason People Hate Tim Tebow
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2 comments:
I just thought it was because of the less than 50% completion percentage and/or that he wasn't winning!
While I don't doubt that Tebow has received plenty of criticism due to his outspoken faith, his athletic performance hasn't helped the situation. Leading a 4th quarter comeback (after being dominated the entire game) to barely defeat the worst team in football is not exactly an impressive debut. The announcers continually referred to his "unorthodox style", which just deeded to be called what it is, a great college player surrounded by professionals. I love Tebow as a person, and I'm sure he's a great leader in the locker room, but the Bronco's didn't draft him so that he would glorify God. This is professional football, and unfortunately all that counts is wins and championships. I know that Jesus told us we would be persecuted for righteousness, and that we will be blessed for it. And I totally get the author's connection that our own flesh is offended by the righteousness of God. However, I'm just not so sure that Tim Tebow is the best person to use as an illustration for this point.
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