Thursday, December 8, 2011

I am a Christian...

...just like Tim Tebow (above). Well, not just like Tebow. While I believe in the message of Jesus, "Love thy neighbor," I have a bit of trouble with that whole divinity thing. It's a bit of a stretch...

I only bring this up after reading a piece my son sent me, "The People Who Hate Tim Tebow," by Chuck Klosterman (whoever he is). Klosterman points out that:

A survey by the Pew Forum on religious and public life suggests that 78.4 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians.

While I would identify myself with that 78.4 percent, I suspect that most Christians wouldn't include me. Whatever. This post isn't about me. It's about my feelings toward Tim Tebow.

Klosterman goes on to say:

On one pole, you have people who hate him because he's too much of an in-your-face good person, which makes very little sense; at the other pole, you have people who love him because he succeeds at his job while being uniquely unskilled at its traditional requirements, which seems almost as weird. Equally bizarre is the way both groups perceive themselves as the oppressed minority who are fighting against dominant public opinion, although I suppose that has become the way most Americans go through life.

So I want to say that, despite our theological differences, I like Tim Tebow. (I can just hear my family and friends: "You like Tim Tebow? Really?") Yes, I do. Because first and foremost, he seems like a genuinely good person who gives of himself to others. And that should be an inspiration to all of us. Also, Tebow strikes me as authentic. That's refreshing (especially in an era of people like Mitt Romney). Third, the Denver quarterback is winning games in the NFL (so far) in spite of the accepted wisdom of the experts. And he's succeeding in a league that is so bland and so vanilla that the only difference in the teams, as far as I can tell, is the color of their jerseys. (I think that's why I like high school football so much.)

So, go Tim Tebow! I'll be watching you against the Bears this weekend. And I hope you take the Broncos to the Super Bowl.

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