Is Tim Tebow God’s Favorite?
The Controversy Over Tim Tebow
Though he's no longer playing football the questions raised over Tim's faith are still very relevant and worth a read.
It's amazing how controversial Tim Tebow has became in such a short period of time. It seems there were few without judgment of this young man. Opinions range from love him to hate him with little in between. The controversy stems from the transparency of his relationship with God but bigger questions arise than should Tim be "tebowing" (praying) after scoring a touchdown.
Numerous players in the NFL share the same faith as Tim Tebow. Many of them also openly thank God that they were able to perform well on a given play or in a game. So maybe the "tebowing" isn't what makes this argument so volatile?
In this article I'd like to take a look at a couple of other possibilities why this young man has had such a polarizing effect on us and offer a response to the bigger question, "Is Tim Tebow God's favorite football player."
The Short Story on Tim Tebow
A brief outline might be helpful to some of you for background's sake though we don't need to go into much detail on the life of Tim Tebow here as there are some other great places for that like Wikipedia and TimTebow.com just to point you towards a couple.
The short story is that Tim was born in the Philippines to parents who were Christian missionaries. He is the youngest of five children, was home schooled by his mother through High school in Jacksonville Florida and attended the University of Florida. Tim was an exceptional football player throughout his college years, not just as it relates to the competition at the time but historically speaking as well. Tim was known to put scripture references on his under eye patches when in college which at the time was pretty controversial. The NCAA has since made a rule that this practice is not allowed. The press still calls it "The Tebow Rule".
Tim was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. He was the 25th overall pick. He finished his rookie year with the opportunity to start the last three games of the season for the Broncos and got his first win in his second start.
This brings us to this season and the ensuing hullabaloo. Denver started this season with one win and four loses with Kyle Orton at quarterback. Halfway through the fifth game, trailing by 16 points, Orton was replaced by Tim Tebow who nearly led the team to a comeback victory. The next week Denver head coach John Fox named Tebow the starter. From there a six game streak of improbable wins launched Tim into the national spotlight. Once again bringing to everyone's attention the fact that Tim is a Christian and that His relationship with God is not something he feels needs to be a secret.
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Outspoken?
I've heard the term outspoken used to describe Tim Tebow recently but have not actually observed him being what I consider outspoken. For me, a more accurate description would be unashamed. While I have heard Tim boldly speak about God, it has always been when someone has asked him a question. Which is completely in line with the scripture that says, "to be ready with an answer".
Outspoken is a much better depiction of so many other players in the NFL I am hesitant to call this the basis for the immensity of the current debate.
Is Tim Tebow God's Favorite?
This is such a great question and is really much deeper than being about a specific football player. What's been going on recently with Tim Tebow has allowed questions like this to come to our attention and looking for answers to them is a great thing. Here are a few other questions related to what we're about to explore:
Does God want Tim Tebow's team to win more than He does the other team, even though the other team has Christians on it too?
Does Tim Tebow get God on his side by talking more about Him than other players?
Does God have favorites?
Does God love some people more than He loves others?
As I said, these are fantastic questions and really need to be answered because if the answer to any of them is yes then it's easy to see why so many people feel this strongly about what they think they're seeing and hearing about Tim Tebow.
The short answer to all of the above questions is an emphatic NO! God does not love Tim Tebow more than He loves anyone else. God doesn't want the Broncos to win any more than their opponent. God doesn't have favorites. What's cooler than the fact that God doesn't love anyone more than another is that He also doesn't love anyone the same. His love for Tim Tebow, just like his love for you and me is completely unique and one of a kind.
The thing that sets Tim Tebow apart from many (not by any means all) is his love for God. That's something that each of us gets to decide for ourselves. Combine Tebow's love for God with God's unique love for him and what you see is something special. Not more special, just special. When a relationship is strong in both directions, the results are amazing. So what we are seeing is a man that trusts that everything depends on God and works like everything depends on him. Tim Tebow has worked very hard to become the athlete that he is today. Put that together with the mental and spiritual strength that comes from his faith, knowing that win or lose he's going to give it his all and the result is going to be exciting, love it or hate it.