"... People have constructed a world for him in which there is no room for mistakes, only perfection. And if he should stumble? What then?
It’s frightening how much belief followers have put in a 24-year-old. I feel sorry for him. I feel sorry for the woman who marries him. I can’t imagine the glare of the spotlight and the pressure to be sinless.
Tebow seems like a very nice guy with a very big heart. It’s the people who worship him, rather than just admire him, who make my skin crawl."
We have done this to ourselves, fellow believers. It's not persecution that causes this reaction -- it's bad theology. I don't want to write about Tim Tebow. Whether or not he makes it long term in the NFL, he seems to have perspective. He'll be fine. Tebowmania--that's a different story, and that's the point of this post. It represents to me the worst of the prosperity gospel of conservative evangelicals (which is different than Joel Osteen's version, yet equally destructive).
Michelle Bachman's presidential campaign is an example. During Tebow's 6 game winning streak, she authorized a campaign ad likening herself to him -- under appreciated, maligned for his faith, yet able to get it done. The problem was that by the time the ad hit the airwaves, Tebow had hit his dismal 3 game slide at the end of the season. A losing Tebow was of no use to her campaign. Losing Tebow wouldn't resonate or inspire the voters she was trying to court. Coupled with her losses in early primaries, the ad was the death knell of her campaign. If only she had held on a week, she could have milked it for all it was worth after his improbable win over Pittsburgh. But it would be useless again now after the loss to the Patriots.
Tim, I know you're not reading this but if you were (after asking you if you could get me a size large women's NFL Tebow jersey because they are sold out online), I'd want to tell you how very sorry I am to see you exploited so by conservative evangelicals. Exploitation by unbelievers is one thing, but when it is so called brothers and sisters in Christ, it's so much worse. They'll mostly leave you alone if you lose consistently next season. You'll be of no more use then to prop up their distorted prosperity gospel. Life makes better sense for Christians when Marian Barber's fumble and Prater's miraculous field goals are God's affirmation of you for your up front faith. But if you continue in that faith and lose miserably for any length of time, they won't know what to do with it. They don't know what to do with THAT God.
In reality, sometimes the greatest gifts God gives faithful Christians come in the form of losses. They that lose their life will find it, Jesus says. Losses often pave the way for His better gifts -- not gifts of things, but gifts of Himself.
Conservative evangelicals may not uniformly want that God, but, nevertheless, He's the One we've got. And there's something about Him that is infinitely better long term than the one who makes bad teams fumble and good teams win.
Well said, Wendy!
ReplyDeleteWell written. As I've progressed down the road of caring for a terminally ill child, and then buying that child, I've encountered many in the American Church who just don't know what to do with a Good Sovereign God who was in control of my daughter's first AND last breath. As it became clear she was dying, I was accused of lacking faith, not praying for the "right things", not allowing God to work, and many other problems that all pointed to a deep-seated theology in which God doesn't author suffering in the lives of "good" Christians. It seems to tie into the exact theological phenomena you are describing here. I have come to the conclusion that as a whole, the American Church has forgotten how to suffer. Suffer for sanctification's sake that is. The theology of suffering seems to be under-taught. I'm not sure why or how this came about (other than the obvious human predilection for a God who promises sunshine and roses over crosses and martyrdoms). I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this, as I may be oversimplifying the situation... this is just what I've been able to glean from personal observation.
ReplyDeleteJessica, your observation is exactly mine too. I'm sorry for your loss, and I don't question your faith. This is our God--the same one who allowed Job's trials. He's very, very good, and very good for us. But His definition of good and ours don't always match.
ReplyDeleteGod deals with each of His children differently as we do with our children. Each has something different to work on and each has something different to offer. I'm rejoicing that through the persecution and the praise of Tim Tebow Jesus is getting some notice and glory. God is sovereign and He will raise up who He will raise up and put down Who He will put down. In my life I have been blessed to be rich in material things and poor in material things. The point is that in each situation God will make us rich in His Spirit!
ReplyDeleteI'd say that the issue you bring up, and also that shared by Jessica, does not come from bad theology. It comes from immaturity, most often caused by the refusal of Christian leaders to teach knowledgeably about scriptural topics that may be unpopular, but which are expedient. If one becomes a student of scripture (sadly lacking in the American church, I'm afraid), it is clear that we are given no options when it comes to remaining immature. It has never been a part of God's plan for His children. We are to GROW UP!
ReplyDeleteIt also has never been a part of His plan that we should never experience loss. If anyone wonders about it, read 1 Peter...it's impossible to miss, especially in chapters three and four. Want more, try Jesus' teachings, basically He told his boys, "They didn't like me; they won't like you, because your citizenship is now in a different Kingdom than theirs." Then you can try the apostle, Paul. You get the picture.
I appreciate your concern regarding those whose teaching is shallow and without substance, but let's not call it bad theology. To my mind, theology is not simply what is taught. By definition, it speaks of correct knowledge and teaching of the things of God and His Kingdom. By the way, I'm glad you hit my button. I enjoy being challenged to think!