HAVE YOU TEBOWED LATELY?

HAVE YOU TEBOWED LATELY?

I recently heard a story about a little woodpecker. He was pecking away on a big oak tree when all of a sudden a bolt of lightning split the tree in half. He flapped his wings and backed up so he could see what had happened.

Hurriedly, he flew away and gathered a bunch of his red-headed, feathered friends and led them back to the oak tree. They stared in amazement. “See. I told you so,” he bragged unashamedly. From that time on he was the head woodpecker in the forest.

We laugh at the absurdity of a woodpecker taking the credit for something only God could do. Man, however, loves to take credit for so many things that have nothing to do with them personally. When someone comes along and rightfully gives God the glory, people don’t know what to make of it…case in point, Tim Tebow.

Finally a young person that is a role model for young people and he is continually being slammed in the media.

Tebow is a 24 year old quarterback for the Denver Broncos and the first college sophomore to ever win a Heisman Trophy in NCAA history. He has been a controversial figure since last football season when he helped film a Super Bowl commercial for Focus on the family.

The 2010 pro-life ad was the first advocacy commercial ever approved to air during the Super Bowl and according to various surveys (including Neilsen) it was the most discussed Super Bowl commercial on the Internet.

Pro-choice groups put enormous pressure on CBS not to air the commercial, but the network closed their ears and since then Tebow has rocketed to fame.

There is no way I can present, in this article, all the impressive football stats Tebow has racked up or the numerous awards he has accumulated. Suffice it to say, his unorthodox approach to recognizing that God is the one who has given him the ability to succeed is taking the nation and the world by storm. They call it ‘Tebowing’.

Tebowing involves dropping to one knee, making a fist and bowing one’s head. After Tebow scores a touchdown he drops to one knee, makes a fist and offers a prayer of thanks. (Something our friend the woodpecker would never think of doing, I’m sure!)

So widespread is ‘Tebowing’ that the Global Language Monitor, which tracks trends in languages, has recognized the term and offers this definition: “the act of taking a knee in prayer during an athletic contest.”

Recently two Riverhead High School students, Tyler and Connor Carroll, were put on a one-day-in-school suspension for ‘Tebowing’ in the school’s hallway. About 40 students followed suit and created a firestorm of protest from the school administrators.

The Long Island, NY students said they were not being religious, just imitating their hero. “It was basically just a tribute to Tim Tebow,” Connor Carroll told the New York Post. “It was more than a religious thing….I guess it was basically like a moment of silence.”

School officials say they were not banning religious behavior, but were only concerned about the safety of the students, saying the kids were blocking students in the hallway.

Tebow, when hearing of the incident was quoted on FOX Sports as saying, “You have to respect the position of authority and people that God’s put as authority over you…But I think it does show courage from the kids, standing out and doing that, and some boldness.”

The Bible says, “Who made you superior to others? Didn't God give you everything you have? Well, then, how can you boast, as if what you have were not a gift?” (I Cor. 4:7 GNT) “Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.” (James 1:17 NLT)

Maybe it’s about time we all did a ‘Tebow’ and gave God the glory for the things He has done in our lives.