None of the pundits picked the Denver Broncos to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the January 8, 2012 wild card round of NFL playoffs. The Denver victory was highly unlikely, and certainly newsworthy. But Denver’s Christian quarterback, Tim Tebow, created the real media buzz. Tebow was the star of the game throwing the winning touchdown on the first play of overtime. After the game ended, Tebow’s name was being mentioned in an amazing 9500 tweets per minute, the highest such total ever recorded.
But here’s what really has the pundits buzzing. In the victory over Pittsburgh, Tebow threw for a personal best of exactly 316 yards. He averaged exactly 31.6 yards per catch.
What’s the big deal? Many are asking if this is more than chance.
Tebow reports John 3:16 is his favorite Bible verse. In college he frequently wore John 3:16 on his eye black (the NFL prohibits such messages). When John 3:16 appeared on his eye black during the 2009 National Championship Game, the term “John 3:16” was searched for on Google more than 90 million times.
Connect the dots to Sunday’s game – 316 yards and 31.6 yards per catch for Tim Tebow, Mr. John 3:16. The result was that John 3:16 was the most searched Google search term on Monday. And hundreds of more newspaper reports and TV news spots connected the dots and asked if this is divine intervention is at work. Amazing!
What do you think? I’m certain God doesn’t really care who wins football games. I’m equally certain that God really does care that his people draw attention to Jesus Christ. He wants us all to do that. Tim Tebow is doing it.
Tim Tebow’s parents raised him to be a disciple of Jesus. They raised him to preach. On the national stage for years now, Tim Tebow, the missionary, perfectly disguised as a football player, does everything he can to point the whole world to Jesus. I think that makes God smile.
And when you do what you can to point someone to Jesus, God’s smile is just as big!
-Jeff Metzger
Lead Pastor RHCC
Jeff: I think you’ve hit on exactly the most important part of the whole Tim Tebow craze. It certainly isn’t that he wins football games because he’s a Christian. It’s that he gives God the praise for the talent he posesses, and God blesses him by giving him a national stage on which to preach. Someone bitterly complained to me that they just didn’t understand the excitement around Tebow, and said that God isn’t an NFL fan and doesn’t micromanage football games. You have explained that perfectly. Thank you for your wonderful insight into this issue. I must say, I think it is wonderful the way God is using this young man to get millions of people to read the Gospel of Jesus condensed into one succinct verse!