Longtime friends of mine can already probably guess I what I really think about the latest splash the Denver Donkey--er, I mean, Broncos--have made in the player transaction department by signing Peyton Manning for a #@$#$%load of money and subsequently trading incumbent quarterback Tim Tebow to the New York Jets. As a born-and-raised Kansas City Chiefs fan, I am genetically predisposed to mega-loathe everything about the Donks (I try not to use the word "hate" on this blog, so I settle for John C. McGinley's term from the sitcom Scrubs--"mega-loathe"). So, the Oscar the Grouch in me simply detests all of the fawning attention being lavished upon Denver right now.
Being a Chiefs fan largely works out for me now, working in Washington state, since the Seahawks and the Chiefs stopped being in the same division several years ago (compare this to my seminary years in Berkeley, just north of Oakland and its hordes of rabid Raiders fans--I wouldn't even bother wearing my Chiefs jersey from August through January). But Tim Tebow, he of the Heisman-winning, Jesus-thanking fame, transcends mere hometown team alliance for an awful lot of people, especially evangelical Christians. Colorado is home to many, many evangelical churches, and we are home to a number of them here as well.
Tebow was a big name even before his faith really hit the national stage because of his uncommon athleticism, but his appearance in a pro-life television ad during the Super Bowl two years ago likely sealed a lot of his admirers--and gave him plenty of new detractors. It took a lot of guts for Tebow to do a commercial on what is probably the most controversial political topic today, and that counts for something with me. But I still couldn't admire it because Tebow had done the ad with the Colorado-based Focus on the Family organization, which, among other things, I consider to be a homophobic organization. To cite one example, Focus sponsors the Day of Truth/Dialogue, which is an event expressly meant to rebuke the Day of Silence, an event designed to raise awareness of the bullying of gay and lesbian children. When gay and lesbian youth are demonstrably more at risk to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers and you actively try to hinder efforts to curb the bullying of that demographic, it makes me wonder how "pro-life" such an organization actually is.
I realize that this is tagging Tebow with guilt by association. Tebow also does amazing outreach work through his various foundations--raising funds for hospitals and orphanages, aiding children with disabilities, and sharing his own religious testimony with lots and lots of people. But I have to admit, that ad, as moving as it was, left a pretty bad taste in my mouth, even though it also gave him a lot of fans outside of the typical Broncos fan base, as well as probably some even more hardcore fans within that typical Broncos fan base.
And he's now going to a city dominated not as much by evangelical megachurches, but by a hodgepodge of religious affiliations, not the least of which is the Church of Sunday Morning Brunch, and where people are probably, on the whole, more pro-choice than in Colorado. I wish him nothing but the best on the field, as he is no longer wearing a blue-and-orange jersey, and I do hope his presence and testimony is of benefit to at least some folks in his new team's city, much in the same way that Jeremy Lin has caught fire with the New York Knicks faithful--it's pretty incredible to see an athlete who has said his dream after retirement is to go to seminary, become a pastor, head up a non-profit, and work with underprivileged kids in inner-city communities suddenly find his basketball jersey to be the hottest commodity in town. If it's making God more accessible in new ways, it's exciting.
One of the biggest things I have learned in Christian ministry so far is the importance of making God more accessible in new and exciting ways (precisely through ministries like mission and testimony). But it is not something I think of someone like James Dobson as really doing. What words we use to express our faith matter immensely, not just in who we bring to God but in who we hurt as well. And by working with Focus on the Family, Tim Tebow made some folks feel hurt, myself included.
It is always cool, for me, to see famous figures talk spirituality, because even if I don't agree with them, they tend to make for pretty entertaining news (see also: Tom Cruise's Scientology). But when it happens in a way that is overtly polarizing, I worry that there might not be a way we could do it better, and most certainly in a way that wouldn't turn off people who already feel (often understandably) suspicious of the church.
And, go Chiefs.
Yours in Christ,
Eric
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