It is interesting the way that quirky phenomena suddenly become global. The practice of praying before or even during a football game is not new, nor even the gesture of kneeling on the pitch to give thanks after a successful move. I have watched American football long enough to remember other players doing just that, but Tim Tebow, the quarterback for the Denver Broncos, has managed to take it to another level. The son of evangelical missionaries, he has habitually prayed on one knee before a game and at every touchdown as a means of proclaiming his faith in Jesus Christ, and now he finds that the whole world is following him. Put “Tebowing” into the search engine and, alongside the picture of the man himself, you will be given a wide variety of anonymous individuals adopting the pose (down on one knee, elbow in knee, forehead on closed fist, in an attitude of prayer, shutting everyone else out) in shopping centres, at monuments or with famous views in the background. It’s a new photographic craze with spiritual origins.
The reason for the sudden appearance of this phenomenon is probably because it looked like God was actually answering prayer in dramatic fashion. The Broncos didn’t get a great start to the season, but when Tebow played he led the team to win games in a manner that seemed out of all proportion to his actual skills. I have read that he is not generally regarded as one of the great quarterbacks (yet), but in mid-season he snatched victory on several occasions in the dying moments of the fourth period of the game and people began to take note of him. He has always been completely upfront and open about his faith, about his reliance on God in everything and about praying before and during games, so someone coined the nickname “God’s quarterback”. With five wins out of his first six games as starting quarterback, and many of those pulled out of the bag, it seemed the designation was a good one, and it carried on into the post-season with a breathtaking overtime win against the Steelers on Sunday 8 January.
But, of course, the fascination is at a purely external level. It’s all about adopting the pose, as if there is a mystical power in assuming a particular body stance that will make everything better, or ensure that success comes my way. There is nothing about adopting the faith or sharing the beliefs that make prayer a reality - which is, after all, where Tebow is coming from - or that create a desire for others to come to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord. Nothing about following Jesus as Lord to allow him to change your life. The craze, as so often happens, has taken the external and outward aspects and jettisoned the internal reality that gives it meaning.
What this particular craze does is challenge us to ask whether our belief in prayer is our real default position or is just a stance that we adopt. It is quite possible for prayer to be empty of any real significance; it is just something we acknowledge as important in our traditions, but it has lost personal relevance and power. The reasons for that may be manifold, signalling a loss of confidence in God or simply that we have allowed circumstances to crowd prayer out, but whatever the reason it is essential that we all find our way back to a living personal trust in God that we express regularly in prayer. And it is important to note that a reliance on God in prayer does not mean automatic success, even though that is what people were assuming about Tebow with his miraculous game-winning moves. The Broncos were thumped 45-10 in the Divisional Play-Offs on Sunday 14 January by the New England Patriots and pitched out of the competition. So it’s not miracles all the way, but I hope that Tebow still bowed at the end of that game to thank God for his goodness, pray for grace to face defeat and carry on living for Jesus.
The reason for the sudden appearance of this phenomenon is probably because it looked like God was actually answering prayer in dramatic fashion. The Broncos didn’t get a great start to the season, but when Tebow played he led the team to win games in a manner that seemed out of all proportion to his actual skills. I have read that he is not generally regarded as one of the great quarterbacks (yet), but in mid-season he snatched victory on several occasions in the dying moments of the fourth period of the game and people began to take note of him. He has always been completely upfront and open about his faith, about his reliance on God in everything and about praying before and during games, so someone coined the nickname “God’s quarterback”. With five wins out of his first six games as starting quarterback, and many of those pulled out of the bag, it seemed the designation was a good one, and it carried on into the post-season with a breathtaking overtime win against the Steelers on Sunday 8 January.
But, of course, the fascination is at a purely external level. It’s all about adopting the pose, as if there is a mystical power in assuming a particular body stance that will make everything better, or ensure that success comes my way. There is nothing about adopting the faith or sharing the beliefs that make prayer a reality - which is, after all, where Tebow is coming from - or that create a desire for others to come to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord. Nothing about following Jesus as Lord to allow him to change your life. The craze, as so often happens, has taken the external and outward aspects and jettisoned the internal reality that gives it meaning.
What this particular craze does is challenge us to ask whether our belief in prayer is our real default position or is just a stance that we adopt. It is quite possible for prayer to be empty of any real significance; it is just something we acknowledge as important in our traditions, but it has lost personal relevance and power. The reasons for that may be manifold, signalling a loss of confidence in God or simply that we have allowed circumstances to crowd prayer out, but whatever the reason it is essential that we all find our way back to a living personal trust in God that we express regularly in prayer. And it is important to note that a reliance on God in prayer does not mean automatic success, even though that is what people were assuming about Tebow with his miraculous game-winning moves. The Broncos were thumped 45-10 in the Divisional Play-Offs on Sunday 14 January by the New England Patriots and pitched out of the competition. So it’s not miracles all the way, but I hope that Tebow still bowed at the end of that game to thank God for his goodness, pray for grace to face defeat and carry on living for Jesus.
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