Anthony on Tebow

Forget about Chuck Norris.. it's all about Tim Tebow now. 
The reasons are too numerous for me to mention, but I'll share some of the most popular rants I came across: 
-Tim Tebow was late for practice one day. The rest of the team had to run laps for being early.
-Tim Tebow set Adam and Eve up on a blind date.
-Tim Tebow can make a snowman out of rain.
-People with amnesia still remember Tim Tebow.

----Leave it to Anthony to pick the controversial sports topic of the day to write about. 
I think the last time the sports world was so divided on their feelings toward  a professional athlete was the time Ricky Bobby raced his one-time co-captain Cal Naughton Jr. in Talledega Nights. 

I get it, some people are really irritated that Tim takes a knee, bows his crown and prays seemingly at the end of every other play.  But remember, Tim is a Christian and his desire to follow the Lord's command is pretty high on his priority list. 

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:14-16).

Seems clear enough to me.  In Tim's mind, he has been given a national spotlight for a reason   --so why not use it to talk about what he prizes the most? 

Right?  Well, maybe not...

Did you know that if you keep reading along in Matthew, in the very same chapter, you will find the following verses:

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you” (Matthew 6:5-6).

Kinda makes you think.
Is Tebow a bit too flauntacious (I just made that word up) with his faith?  Is there any room for piety in this guy's life?  I remember hearing a story about hall of fame pitcher Sandy Koufax (now a Jewish icon) sitting out of game 1 of the World Series because it was played on Yom Kippur, the most holy Jewish holiday.  Koufax's actions were the things that spoke the loudest.  If my memory serves me, he never glued a Star of David patch on his baseball cap or wore a Yamaka on the field...(I better Google that last one to be sure).

Even urber devout QB Kurt Warner reflects on his career by saying, "[I] learned the hard way that he should've been more sparing with his religious rhetoric, and that he should've simply let his actions do most of the talking."

To Tebow or Not to Tebow?  This is the question.

In my mind, I would argue that this is largely up to Tim Tebow.  You could argue from both sides of the coin on whether or not Tim should be so grandiose about his faith.  Therefore, at the end of the day, we have to trust that Tebow is coming from a good place.*
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 4:5, "Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God."   This means that on this side of eternity we simply cannot know Tim's heart and the good thing is that we don't have to.  My hope is that Tebow's desire to honor God in his fame will follow him when the inevitable winning stops and the scrutiny begins...as it always does. 

*“My relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing in my life. So any time I get an opportunity to tell him that I love him or given an opportunity to shout him out on national TV, I'm gonna take that opportunity. And so I look at it as a relationship that I have with him that I want to give him the honor and glory anytime I have the opportunity. And then right after, I give him the honor and glory.”

—Tim Tebow

-Anthony Tebowing before this blog post hits the news-