I have to say that I grew up not participating in sports. It wasn’t until college that I began running and not until I started my first graduate degree that I started cycling. I don’t watch sports now, and I’m not glued to the tv for the Super Bowl (I don’t even own a tv). So when something huge happens, it may take a while for me to discover it. But not when it comes to gossip! You have to live under a rock when it comes to not knowing about the latest rumors in American culture. The biggest story, recently, is Tim Tebow, his outspoken faith, the face paint evangelism, and now Katy Perry’s apparent “liking” him and her mother trying to set them up.

I wanted to write about this for several reasons. First, Tim Tebow is not the first person to be outspoken about his faith in the public spotlight. Many people before him have and there will be many after him. I’m sure you can name a few. The problem is that the secular community ridicules them and watches their every move for “contradictions” while the Christian community idolizes them. Both of these approaches WILL result in failure for Tim.

Secondly, Americans have a strange approach to evangelism. It’s either in your face Bible beating or not at all. I know Tim, being raised on the mission field in the Philippines, has a desire to share the Gospel, but what does that look like off the field? I have no idea; he may spend a lot of time reaching out to people, getting to know their story, and speaking Truth into suffering lives. I sure hope he is. Having been involved in church for so many years, I know that most people have no idea how to share their faith in Christ in such a way that it is effective to the hearer.

I can summarize my approach, and I think it is a biblical approach in one sentence, “Be like every other but be like no other.” Let me put it this way. How do we, as Christians, permeate the communities and cultures around us in such a way that people feel absolutely comfortable to express themselves, and because of our efforts to get to know them, have gained the respect to be heard? Let me ask this question, “Do you spend more time finding ways to critique the wrong people are doing, or do you listen to their story, hear the suffering in their voice, and look for ways the Spirit is working in their lives?” These are two very different approaches. Which one do you think is more effective?

Lastly, I ask the Christian community to pray for celebrities like Tim. I know it’s going to be difficult for him and his family when he makes the wrong move and the media slanders him for being a hypocrite. That’s their job. More than that, pray for the people around him and his church family would be a source of guidance, wisdom, and comfort.

You see, this post isn’t actually about Tim Tebow at all. This post is about the need to reach out to people, get to know them in a real way, and tell them the Good News of the redeeming Savior. A tshirt, face paint, or bowing in the end zone will not proclaim the grace of God in sending His Son to die for sins we deserve, nor should it. Where has the Lord called you, at this very moment, to be all there in person, listening and caring for those close to you?

Great books to consider:
*Relationship, A Mess Worth Making by Tim Lane & Paul Tripp
*Tell the Truth by Will Metzger
*Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper
*Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul Tripp