Tebowing, Linsanity, and You

                Today's sports media is surrounded by the hype of players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Michael Vick, and others. Until the last few months Christian athletes have not warranted much “hype.” That all changed in week 7 of the last NFL season when Denver quarterback Tim Tebow took over the starting position from Kyle Orton. Tebow, a second year player out of Florida where he won a Heisman trophy, led the 1-4 Broncos to the post season. If you ever were to like dramatic programs then the Denver season was a joy for you to watch. Tebow and his teammates rallied for several second half comebacks most of which occurred in the 4^th quarter or even into overtime. Tebow remained humble. Perhaps you are familiar with “Tebowing?” Similar to “planking” Tebowing was coined from Tebows one kneed, head bowed, salute to God before he steps on the field.

                Tebow, while an excellent college and High School player, had been a bit of a let down on the NFL scene. His throwing mechanics were awful, his timing was off, he isn’t a pocket QB. These are all criticisms Tebow faced on a regular basis. Even after winning 4 straight games critics were not ready to give the guy credit. Then Tebow came under attack from the media and even players saying he was too outspoken about his belief and just pull it back a little bit. Tebow was very gracious with his advisories, but it did not hinder his faith or how he spoke about it.

                Jeremy Lin has a very similar story to Tebow, a stellar basketball player in High School and at the college level where he played for Harvard. In his rookie year Lin was waived Golden State and Houston, he was demoted to the NBS’s D-league three times. All this happened before the start of this season when he got picked up by New York. Lin has stayed faithful and vocal about his faith just as Tebow has. Lins ability comes from the hundreds of hours he poured into the gym practicing his jumpers and ball handling skills; just like Tebows came from the thousands of 10yard out routs he has thrown in the span of his career.

                If you ask these young men the source of the success they undoubtedly will say its by the grace of God and tireless amounts of hard work. They have achieved “excellence” through dedication. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul is speaking on this very statement excellence through dedication.  He tells the church at Corinth to “Run in such a way that you may win.” Paul uses the comparison of an athlete to the Christian here. “They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we (believers) an imperishable.” Paul goes on to say he enslaves his body. What does this mean? What Paul is speaking on here is discipline. As athletes must discipline themselves to rigorous and intense training so must Christians, but our training is not only physical (although that does play a big role). How can we become strong in our spiritual discipline?

                What do all athletes have? A coach. Why? Because the coach is the ultimate authority on the particular sport. Now the drills the coach gives are what is being practiced over and over to make the athlete successful in winning that “wreath.” How does this relate? Christian, you are the athlete, the event is your life, the drills are scripture, and the coach is God; the Ultimate Authority. God gives us scripture to practice, and this practice is not a shot at Allen Iverson’s famous quote “practice? What’s practice?” I digress, scripture is meant to be studied over and over; meditated on day and night. A wrestler dreams about how he is going to counter the attack of his opponent, likewise the Christian should in a sense dream about how he is going to counter the attacks of the enemy. This is done through the study of Scripture that the Coach gives us.

 Both Tim and Jeremy would agree that they became excellent athletes due to the vast amount of practice they put in to their individual events, or disciplines. Furthermore, they would both agree, as the outspoken believers they are, that in order to “win the race” and “fight the good fight” the believer must practice what he believes both on the court and on the practice field. You don’t need a catchy moniker associated with your name to make an impact. Likewise, you need not be a public figure to have an influence on the people you come in contact with every day. Simply put, if you practice what you preach in a genuine way you will accomplish great things for the Lord both in the public eye and in private, which is where it really counts!