From Peter King’s MMQB:
I think what Aaron Rodgers said on his weekly ESPN radio show in Milwaukee and Madison the other day, about wearing religion on one’s sleeve as Tebow does, shows why he’s such a compelling figure. He’s just smart, and he doesn’t have to say, “Hey, I’m smart,” for you to understand. Not when he says things like this:
“Well I started playing before Tim, so these are things I’ve thought about for a long time, and I think one thing that I try to look at when I was a younger player, and I mean, in high school, junior college and Division I, I was always interested in seeing how guys talked in their interviews, talked about their faith, or didn’t talk about their faith. And then the reactions at times, I know Bob Costas at one point was critical about a player thanking Jesus Christ after a win, questioning what would happen if that player had lost, or do you really think God cares about winning and losing.
“I feel like my stance and my desire has always been to follow a quote from St. Francis of Assisi, who said, ‘Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.’ So basically, I’m not an over-the-top, or an in-your-face kind of guy with my faith. I would rather people have questions about why I act the way I act, whether they view it as positive or not, and ask questions, and then given an opportunity at some point, then you can talk about your faith a little bit. I firmly believe, just personally, what works for me, and what I enjoy doing is letting my actions speak about the kind of character that I want to have, and following that quote from St. Francis.”
Except St Francis never said it.
"The problem is that he did not say it. Nor did he live it. And those two contra-facts tell us something about the spirit of our age."
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/mayweb-o…
Aaron needs to do a history lesson
The problem with the Tebow approach is that he is setting himself up as The Example, in other words, the Savior. True evangelism simply points people to Jesus, who is the actual Savior. Tim Tebow is human and as such, is subject to sin. He will inevitably sin in public some day. And when he does, all the doubters will laugh, all the naysayers will say, "look, he really is a fraud, and so is the Christian faith."
We who are already Christians have no reason to root for Tim Tebow, unless of course we are Broncos fans or have some connection to a team or conference that he plays in. His team's winning or losing has absolutely no bearing on the advancement of the Christian gospel, which is spread far more effectively through the Church: in the preaching of the Word, the ritual of the sacraments, and the discipleship of people in the context of authentic relationship.
I'm definitely offended by Rev. Hart's comments. If Tebow is not actively working against the faith, then it's inconsistent for fellow believers to tear him down.
The thing I notice about sportscasters (Bob Costas; more recently, Len Berman) is how they ask the wrong question (Why does God root for one team or player to win?). I don't know God's perspective, but I know a few other facts. God is Tim and Aaron's spiritual father. Doesn't any decent father at least show up to watch his son play? Second, God is the one who gave athletes their talents in the first place. Why shouldn't He be able to experience pleasure at those talents being put to good use? They may not always result in a win (some teams are just better, even when both sides play at 100% of their potential), but if He gets glory and praise in the process, how is that a bad thing?
I've felt the same as Rodgers for most of my life, probably because I'm an introvert, and can't change my personality. The problem is, it feels like this example. If people have never seen me eat, would they intuitively come out of nowhere and ask me about my vegan lifestyle (which I'm not, but this is hypothetical)? I doubt it. The same has been true of my faith. I assume people see my actions, but how are they going to know the reason for them? There are plenty of "religions" out there, and some folks who act charitable out of guilt, compulsion, empathy, and other reasons. I've never really been asked to explain my faith.
To me, it just seems like people are going to live out their faith according to who God made them (introverted or extroverted), and different styles of sharing faith will appeal to different people who are still unsaved. That's always a good thing.