My Thoughts About Tim Tebow

Tim's First NFL Touchdown from Tim Tebow on Vimeo.


It seems like everywhere people are talking about Tim Tebow. Sports pundits wonder if he has special favor from God because of some of his team's amazing victories this year. The faith community seems divided, some thinking he is a great proselytizer and others thinking he is drawing too much attention to football. Others, somewhat cynically work to remind the masses that he is just a man, and what he is doing is being overly hyped.

Now, historically I'm a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, although I have a nephew who is a huge Denver Broncos fan and has been since he was a little boy. I'm not writing as a sports pundit. Of course, those who know me know that my faith is very important to me, and that I strive to learn how to best live this life from Jesus Christ, and I seek to follow his example, but I'm not being so bold as to claim to be an expert as to how Tim Tebow should incorporate his faith into football. This post is about Tebow, but it's really about all of us.

This morning after I woke up, I read an article about Tim Tebow that really touched me. There's been a lot of ink used on Tebow in recent months, and as I referenced earlier, it has been a mixed bag with regard to what people are saying about him. As I thought about whether I should write anything at all, I figured that if I did, I should definitely write it before tonights game, as regardless of one's perspective on this guy, lots of people will be writing about what he did or didn't do tomorrow.

That's a lot of pressure on any human being, but Tebow seems to deal really well with it. I mean tomorrow there will be thousands of tweets and facebook posts talking about the game and his faith, and his prayers, and his life, but the article I read this morning on ESPN really brought a different angle to his story.

You see, even though all eyes are on Tebow before and after games, each week, he has his eyes elsewhere.   He has his eyes on someone who has been suffering, whose life he is attempting to make a little brighter. Rather than re-tell the story of the ESPN article I read, I'm just going to post it here, and let you read it as well.

This post has made reference to Tim Tebow multiple times, but it's not because of his accolades on the field, or the way he talks about Jesus every time he gets the opportunity. It's for what I saw in the article, and what I hear from time to time from others. Sure, he's just a man, but in spite of having all eyes on him and having all eyes expecting him to fail, expecting him to shout about Jesus, expecting him to pull-off a miracle play, he is looking to care for others. He is spending time with the hurting, and trying to make others lives a little brighter.

And so although this little ditty started as a post about Tim Tebow, it's really about you and me. You see, the majority of us will never rise to the celebrated status of this or any other professional athlete or rock star or writer or hollywood mogul, but, we have an opportunity every day. Every day, we have an opportunity to serve others, to make someone else's day a little brighter, to love our neighbor as ourself. It's really about what we are going to do with the time we have to make this world a better place.

And so, whatever you do, whether it's playing professional sports, or some less celebrated activity, remember that your time, and your day is really not about you, but rather it's about how you can serve, bless, and/or improve the lives of other people. May we each make the most of the limited time we have on earth, and learn to love well. When we love well, we make the world a little more beautiful. As I read and learn more about Tim Tebow and his off the field exploits, I see the beauty he brings into the world. And as I close this post, I pray that he, and you, and I can grow in our love and service for others.