Living a mile high...

This morning everyone in Denver is on top of the world...higher than the typical mile in which we live.  Why?  Because yesterday the Broncos one their first playoff game of the season.  A playoff game that many did not even think that the Broncos would even be a contender.  Now, I must admit that I am not a follower of the NFL.  I'm a Nebraska girl...  My students however are HUGE Broncos fans!  I hear about it from them, and the news. 

I can handle listening to the 5 minute clips here and there about the Broncos.  What I can't handle more and more is the terrible disrespect that is displayed towards Tim Tebow.  For those of you who don't know, let me introduce you to Tim.

I first heard about Tim Tebow as a Florida Gator.  He and his mother were in a Focus on the Family TV ad during the Superbowl one year.  The ad Celebrated Life.  It was ProLife.  It was Christian. 


I don't know all the details about how Tim got to Denver, or anything about when he started really playing for the Broncos, etc.  What I do know is this...after touchdowns (I think, or maybe just good plays) he pauses and prays, like this:

The media has begun to call this "Tebowing".  People do it all over the world.  Tebow is not shy about his faith, to which I say, GOOD FOR YOU!  I think that it is important that our children have pro athlete role models like Tim Tebow, who always gives thanks to God for his talents, who always calls himself 'blessed' rather than 'lucky'.  He seems to be a great man of God. 


 I think, however, that Tim's commitment to giving thanks to the One who gave him his talents makes people uncomfortable.  I teach middle school.  In middle school, when my students are uncomfortable or not sure how to react they tend to go towards either laughing or making fun.  That's what I feel like the media has made Tim's pausing for giving thanks.

I've thought this for a long time, but this morning I was super irked about it.  A radio station, that I RARELY listen to, that is often crud & rude, was talking about the Bible.  This caught my ear as I was scanning for any type of non-commercial noise.  I went back to it and listened.  They were bashing Tebow for praying.  They were saying that Tebow's Bible doesn't have Matthew 6:6 in it.  This is where Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray.


   5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

I feel like Tebow's kneeling in the end zone was a private moment.  Yes, it was in front of thousands in the stadium.  I do not know, but I feel that he probably wasn't doing it to be seen by others.  And if the darn cameras would just leave him be...it could remain a moment of prayer for him.  Granted, I've never seen this happen, I have just heard of it.


The mockery that the radio station, and other media outlets have made of Tebow's Christianity is getting on my nerves.  I can't believe that if Tebow was an other religion in the world that they would be allowed to, or even begin to be so disrespectful.

Why can a station that 9 times out of 10 is blatantly non-Christian pull ONE VERSE from the Bible and use it to scold Tim?

That's my small soap box. 

To you Mr. Tebow, thanks for being a good role model for my students.  Thanks for not being shy about your faith, thus making them to realize more and more that they don't have to be shy about their faith.  And good luck in Saturday's game.  May God bless you and keep you safe.