Tim Tebow, Faith and Example

soterpisc

I was very impressed reading that Tim Tebow a prominent American football player in the US used his faith in a very novel way. He quote a verse from John on his eye black.. Seemingly 114 million people in the US googled the said verse. Amazing how he used a means of preaching without saying a word!! Sometimes the best way to teach your faith is just to live it. He is evangelical.

Cardinal Richelieu

So is he donating his 33 million dollar 5 year contract paycheck to charity or just using God to benefit his sporting career?

Cato Maior

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

So is he donating his 33 million dollar 5 year contract paycheck to charity or just using God to benefit his sporting career?

Surely he would only have to cough up 10%.

Cardinal Richelieu

Cato Maior wrote: »

Surely he would only have to cough up 10%.

Depends if its tax deductable.:D

soterpisc

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

So is he donating his 33 million dollar 5 year contract paycheck to charity or just using God to benefit his sporting career?

Don't know.. There is nothing wrong with being a Good Sportsman and having faith.. I certainly don't see anything wrong with the example he is setting to other young men. Having morals and a faith seems to have given him a clear direction in life. Shouldn't that be lauded?

Plowman

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PDN

Plowman wrote: »

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Yes, I believe Trimble studied at the Irish Bible Institute in Dublin.

A couple of weeks back, while on a flight, I noticed an article in the Irish Times about the Christian faith of South Africans in the Ulster Rugby squad: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/1203/1224308521989.html

Cardinal Richelieu

soterpisc wrote: »

Don't know.. There is nothing wrong with being a Good Sportsman and having faith.. I certainly don't see anything wrong with the example he is setting to other young men. Having morals and a faith seems to have given him a clear direction in life. Shouldn't that be lauded?

Ohh it should but I think his good example was tarnished slightly by him being lauded by a struggling republican candidate trying to scrap votes. Personally I think religion should not be dragged into sport otherwise it ends up into "my religious faith must be stronger" or "my religion is better cause I won with Gods Guidance" silly argument. All races and creeds should be left on the sidelines in sport IMHO. I presume God has more important things to attend to than help with some overpaid golfer putting problems or how long a millionaire footballer can throw a touchdown etc

Plowman wrote: »

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True, do he did change his stance on playing on the Sabbath. The great Michael Jones wouldn't play on the Sabbath but I doubt NZ would pick a player with that stance today. Ewan Murray was released partly for that reason by Northampton and because his form had slided.

PDN wrote: »

Yes, I believe Trimble studied at the Irish Bible Institute in Dublin.

A couple of weeks back, while on a flight, I noticed an article in the Irish Times about the Christian faith of South Africans in the Ulster Rugby squad: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/1203/1224308521989.html

Also the South Sea Islanders would have very strong Christian Values with Prayer sessions before games led by a team member.

Peregrinus

I confess I’m a little puzzled - greatly puzzled, if I’m honest - at the interest taken in the lives of sporting figures.

If you care about American football - I don’t - and if you have ever heard of Tim Tebow - I haven’t - I can see why the details of his sporting prowess might be of some interest. But I don’t see that his religious faith (or his aptitude for foreign languages, or his skill at chess, or the fact that he can’t dance, or whatever) is of any interest to anyone but him and the people in his life. Tebow writing scripture references on his face matters to Tebow, but it tell us nothing.

You kind of assume that professional sportsmen, apart from their sporting ability, are pretty much like the rest of the population, i.e. a diverse bunch. Some will be believers, and some will not. Some will spend their spare time helping underprivileged children, and others will spend it partying and travelling. Some will have blue eyes, and some will have brown.

I don’t think we prove very much by finding a football player who is Christian, and pointing to him. Even before we found him, we could have predicted with reasonable reliability that there were a few out there that we could find, if we cared to look. But the fact that Tim Tebow is a Christian means no more to me that the fact that someone who is not at all well-known is a Christian.

And, far be it from me to denigrate his faith in any way, but the particular manifestation of his Christianity that is called to my attention is the fact that he writes scripture references on his face. I can easily accept that as a sincere form of prayer, and also as a form of witness, but it’s not a particularly remarkable example of either. I mean, that’s it? Scripture references on his cheekbones? It’s not exactly martyrdom for the faith, or profound spiritual insight, or heroic virtue, is it?

No offence to the guy, and I wish him well, and I humbly acknowledge that he may well be a much better Christian than I will ever be. And the same goes for Andrew Trimble and the South Sea Islanders and everyone else mentioned in this thread. But I don’t think we do them - or ourselves - any favours by singling them out in a way which suggests that, because of their sporting prowess and fame, their faith is somehow especially important or especially admirable or especially significant. I think it must be hard enough already for a young man with possibly not too much maturity and probably far too much money to deal with fame and public attention.

And I don’t think it says much for our own faith if we seem to find it in some way validated by the endorsement of celebrity culture.

Baggio1

I say good luck to him, he's not afraid to voice his thanx to God for his life, after all he was a survivor of a possible abortion, but his mother chose NOT to do it and he realises how lucky he is to be here and be as fortunate as he is making a good life for himself - thats the whole point of his story -

i saw a vid of him visiting prisoners in a prison where he spoke to them about his life and the possibilities for everyone when they have faith and hope and a chance of making their lives better. again thats the whole point - he IS doing something with his gift of life and wishes to do as much as he can to help/inspire others and not be silenced on how much his faith in Our Lord has helped him and IS helping him in his life.

good luck to him

homer911

Its an interesting topic for debate..

I note that Bear Grylls promotes Alpha and Katie Taylor here in Ireland sometimes promotes Christian activities and Groups

The "cult" of celbrity is a tricky topic, especially if those celebrities are held up as moral or christian examples - setting themselves up for a high-profile fall really!

Anyone remember the Jonas Brothers and their purity rings?

busyliving

Just another reason to dislike Tebow