I’ve been watching Tim Tebow’s (attempted) transition to “NFL Quarterback” from “Arguably One of the Greatest College Football Players of All Time” with great interest. The thing that interests me most is the number of people, pundits, fans, and otherwise, who seem to be actively rooting for Tebow to fail. In this morning’s “The Blitz” segment on ESPN’s SportsCenter, Chris Berman and Tom Jackson wondered aloud about Tebow’s army of detractors. Now, it’s not uncommon for a successful college player to inspire skepticism about his ability to succeed at the next level, and Tebow certainly has. His delivery is too long, he’s too short, he doesn’t know how to play under center, etc. These criticisms are all accurate, and may well prevent him from being a successful NFL quarterback. But it is rare for a player who has been so successful to have so many people hoping for his failure. What is it about Tebow that causes such animosity? Berman and Jackson are at a loss. I’m not: Tebow is, to the naked eye, an unassailably good person. And people hate him for it.
Tim Tebow is a Christian, has publicly stated that he’s a virgin and will be until he’s married, has served on overseas missions, prays on the sidelines…he doesn’t hide his lamp under a bushel; No! He’s gonna let it shine. But even that’s not enough to inspire the antagonism that he has. If he was just “holier than thou,” he could be dismissed as yet another self-righteous, hypocritical Christian, and wouldn’t inspire such hatred. Tebow’s problem is that he actually appears to BE holier than thou (holier than all of us)! He doesn’t talk about his religion unless he’s asked, he doesn’t talk about his virginity unless he’s asked, he doesn’t talk about anything other than football, working hard to be the best player he can be, and winning…unless he’s asked. Which he is. A lot.
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.
We’re not afraid of a hypocrite; 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 isn’t) 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.
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12 responses to “Tim Tebow IS Holier Than Thou”
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Fascinating!
The problem is…non-Christians believe Tim Tebow is a non-sinner. They believe that Christians shouldn’t sin anymore. And they think Tim Tebow is a “perfect” Christian. He’s not. Tim Tebow is also a sinner. A sinner that needs Jesus to be delivered from God’s wrath, just like the rest of the world. Tim would tell you that, too. In fact, being an awesome scripture filled man, he’d probably quote you Paul’s cry in Romans 7. “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Or perhaps Isaiah 64:6 in that “all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags”.
My hope is, that when and if Tim Tebow does sin publicly and it’s picked up by the national media, he’ll do something that often righteous-viewed Christians fail to do. He’ll model repentance. He’ll show the world that even Tim Tebow needs the Gospel, every day. And it’s my hope that in this modeling of the Christian life, knowing that no matter how good or how “holy” you are that you still need the substitutionary righteousness of Jesus, that more people will see their need of Jesus and God would be glorified.
For another example, look at Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers.
A believer who had a problem with drugs and alcohol who has repented publicly and is seen in a very positive light.
My favorite Tim Tebow anecdote (very much in line with this post) happened during the NFL prospects combine, just before taking a the Wonderlic IQ test.
After being given instructions and comments on how to take the 12 minute test, Tebow piped up to ask the other players around him to bow their heads and pray. A nearby player shouted back “Shut the F___ up!”
Todd, I doubt if that anecdote is true
I first heard of this story from this NBC site: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/23/tebows-pre-wonderlic-prayer-request-falls-flat/
and… I should say that I like the anecdote not because I approve of the response to Tebow, but because the response illustrates something interesting about how people can respond to saintly moral examples. This sort of thing happens ALL the time.
This essay observes well how hatefully people will respond to those who seem to be pure and righteous. I was in school with a man who was as close to perfect as anyone I have known. He avoided the usual vices such as drinking and cussin’ and chasing women, but he also practiced kindness and generosity and treated all people as of equal, and high, value. In other words, one’s instinctive inclination to hate him for being “righteous” was dispelled by the overwhelming power of his genuine human kindness, which was unalloyed by any degree of presumption or self-righteousness. He made you want to be a better person instead of wishing he would go away, and he helped you know that following Jesus was a good idea. For all I know, Tim Tebow may be this kind of person. The problem he faces is that while my friend’s “goodness” was evident through the direct personal encounter with him, Tebow simply cannot interact directly with the millions of people who observe him. So the instinctive hatred of a prig is directed to him whether it is fair or not. My prayer for brother Tim is that he has a Mockingbird-style, Kierkegaard-trained, humor-laden type of faith. Otherwise, I can’t imagine how he can get through all this. Check this out:
http://tebowing.com/
I believe much of this caused by the media. I agree with Jordan.
Very cool article. Liked how informed it was.
Hate to be picky, but Mark Twain would be. “Difference between lightning bug and the lightning”
“We must run from righteousness” … I take it you’re meaning the reality is, we choose to run from righteousness. Not that we should. And I also take it that the reality is we tend to root for Tebow to fail b/c of our selfishness, not that we should. I think it helps to end clearly.
Good article! It’s always that way – the better you are, the more people hate you! It’s ’cause they’re jealous, envious and it reminds ’em of their shortcomings.
I had the opportunity to meet Tim Tebow in March of this year and regardless of personal preference, after meeting him (he took photos for 2 hours with professionals in the insurance industry), no one had a single bad thing to say about him, even if they were not a fan. He had a presence about him, like a shining light, and was so gracious and kind to everyone he met (close to 400 people). Reading about it and forming your opinion about a stranger is one thing, but to meet him is a positive experience and one you cannot forget.
Thanks Nick!