Whatever title you hold personally or professionally, you have probably come to realize that at some point in your life, you will be confronted about your faith. You might be approached by someone with questions about Christianity or you might be recognized as a Christian based on your words and actions.
When you are in the limelight and have a lot of people watching you and hanging onto your every word, you must be very careful with how you word things and who you offend. You won’t be able to completely avoid criticism, you won’t be able to make everyone understand, but you do need to recognize how important your messages are.
Take NFL quarterback, Tim Tebow, for example. If you aren’t too familiar with this football star, here is a quick recap: Tebow was a Heisman-winning quarterback at the University of Florida who helped lead his team to a national championship in 2006 and 2008. He now plays for the Denver Broncos after he was drafted in the first round. What is even more impressive about Tebow, however, is his unequivocal stance on Christianity. It’s hard to say if he would be as much of a news topic if it wasn’t for his public displays of his faith.
On the ChristianPost.com, Anugrah Kumar wrote an article entitled, “Evangelical Football Star Tim Tebow Targeted for His Faith?” where he talks about an interview that Tebow did with CBSSports.com’s columnist, Gregg Doyle. Doyle had questioned Tebow’s faith and in turn, received a lot of “hate mail” from Tebow fans. Some people even told Doyle that they would no longer be CBS Sports customers.
What really caught my attention was the point that Kumar made when he said, “In the 2009 Bowl Championship Series, he [Tebow] wore “John 3:16” on his eye paint, reportedly causing 92 million people to search the verse on Google.”
Wow. If you’ve ever wondered how influential celebrities can be, I think that statement explains it perfectly. The Bible verse, Luke 12:48, is a great example of what God says about being entrusted with power as it states, “…From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
In another article from the ChristianPost.com, Lee Warren talked about reactions from the new Tim Tebow statue at the University of Florida. The Bible verse, John 3:16, was put on the statue’s eye black and one commenter said, ““I’m not a Christian and the Bible reference doesn’t bother me a bit,” said Tom. “Tim Tebow stood up for what he believed, that’s admirable. I’m glad UF had the guts to allow the artist to depict Tebow realistically.””
In my opinion, it’s a huge honor to be known for your strong faith, and Tebow has definitely taken his ability to publicly represent Christianity and has done so in a positive light. He has recently released a memoir entitled, “Through My Eyes”, in which he talks about his years at Florida, why he holds tightly to his beliefs, and the family that made him who he is.
Neat things I’ve just learned about Tebow? He was born in the Phillippines and was endangered before birth because of an infection that his mother had gotten during the pregnancy. Doctors had recommended that she have an abortion because they thought the baby would be stillborn. Tebow was also the first sophomore to ever win the Heisman Trophy and he was named the nation’s best quarterback, best football player and best amateur athlete in any sport.