{"id":952,"date":"2023-08-31T09:49:50","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T15:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/?p=952"},"modified":"2023-08-31T09:51:17","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T15:51:17","slug":"tim-tebow-ridiculed-blessed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/?p=952","title":{"rendered":"Tim Tebow: Ridiculed & Blessed!"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"\"<\/a> (Originally published on October 18, 2010, and updated on August 31, 2023.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Swamp Kings and the Legend of Tim Tebow<\/h2>\n

I just finished watching “Swamp Kings,” the new Netflix documentary that chronicles the rise of the Florida Gators under Urban Meyer’s tenure as Head Coach from 2005-2010. During a three-year span, the University of Florida Gators won two National Championships in 2006 and 2008.<\/p>\n

After completing a perfect regular season in 2009, the Tebow-led Gators were defeated by Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game, denying the Gators an opportunity to compete for a third championship under Meyer and, the fourth in the school’s history.<\/p>\n

Apart from the languge in the documentary (be forewarned that there is liberal profanity used throughout this four-part series, although not by Tebow), this sheds light on what it took to reach the highest pinnacles of the college sports world and, how lonely and stressful life is at the top.<\/p>\n

Tim Tebow’s Leadership<\/h2>\n

Watching this documentary reminded me of the incredible leader that Tim Tebow was and is to this day. Still a polarizing figure to some, primarlily because of his outspoken Christian faith, Tebow’s leadership — on and off the field — helped guide the Gators and Urban Meyer to greatness.<\/p>\n

So, in honor of the Florida Gators first game of the 2023 NCAA Football Season, I hope you enjoy one of my earlier posts about Tim Tebow from all the way back in 2010, when he played for the Denver Broncos. We may never experience the thrill of winning a college football championship or playing in the NFL like Tim Tebow, but, as followers of Jesus Christ, we will all experience ridicule for our faith. But, despite that, we will also experience the blessings that come with it. At least that’s what Jesus tells us:<\/p>\n

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God.\u00a0 Blessed are those when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span>Matthew 5:2-12<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Blessed, Makarios, Woohooh!<\/h2>\n

When you read or hear these words of Jesus, spoken in His most\u00a0well-known recorded\u00a0sermon — the Sermon on the Mount — how do\u00a0they come across to you?\u00a0 I\u00a0would probably not even be asking that question were it not for my New Testament and Revelation professor at Southern Seminary,\u00a0Dr. James Blevins (now deceased).<\/p>\n

One day in class, Dr. Blevins began reading the Beatitudes of Jesus in a dry, dull way.\u00a0 Without warning, he then read the words of Jesus as they were intended to be read and understood.\u00a0 Dr. Blevins began to repeat the phrase:\u00a0 BLESSED!\u00a0 MAKARIOS!!\u00a0 WOOHOOH!!!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As he yelled\u00a0“woohooh,” Dr. Blevins would throw his hands up into the air, sort of like a one-man wave at a football game.\u00a0 Now, for a man who had to be in his 60s at the time, he had an energy and passion for the Lord and for\u00a0the Word of God that was contagious.<\/p>\n

As he was fond of doing, he made the class promise that we would remember the true meaning of Jesus’ “blessings” and that we would pass along our new-found knowledge, whether we were preaching in our churches or just strolling through\u00a0St. Matthew’s Mall (in Louisville).<\/p>\n

Responding to Life’s Adversities<\/h2>\n

I have tried to stay true to the promise and, just\u00a0this past Sunday, once again used “blessed,\u00a0makarios,\u00a0woohooh” <\/strong>(including raising my hands) in one of my sermons.\u00a0 For a non-charismatic preacher, that’s about the only time I really get my hands above my shoulders!<\/p>\n

Now, back to the question.\u00a0 When you read or hear Jesus say, “blessed are . . .,” how\u00a0do you\u00a0respond?\u00a0 I’m afraid that far too many Christians, both pastors and people in the pews (or chairs or stadium seating), miss the significance of Jesus Christ — God the Son —\u00a0saying:\u00a0 “You are\u00a0blessed!”\u00a0 We read the words on the page or hear the words spoken out loud, but all too often we come away unaffected by the stunning magnitude of Jesus’ own words of blessing to us.\u00a0 How terribly sad.<\/p>\n

I thought about\u00a0Jesus’ blessed, makarios, woohooh<\/em><\/strong> as I was\u00a0watching the CBS Halftime Report of the Jets\/Broncos game.\u00a0 At the half, the Broncos were ahead of the Jets by a score of 10 to 7.\u00a0 The Broncos field goal kicker, Matt Prater, scored three of those ten points.\u00a0 But, guess who scored the only Broncos’ touchdown of the first half when he ran the ball into the end zone from the 5 yard line?\u00a0 Tim Tebow!<\/p>\n

Tim Tebow Ridiculed For Doing His Job<\/h2>\n

In fact, this was Tebow’s first touchdown in the N.F.L.\u00a0 You would think that Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy winner, all around record setter in the Southeastern Conference, and\u00a0two-time National Champion with the University of Florida Gators, would have been congratulated for his rookie accomplishment.\u00a0 Well, you would be wrong, at least if you were listening to the esteemed former quarterbacks on CBS’ Halftime Show — Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason.<\/p>\n

After inexplicably not showing highlights of the Broncos’ first half performance, including Tebow’s touchdown run, Coach Bill Cowher mentioned (I believe in a sincere way) that Tim Tebow had scored his\u00a0first N.F.L. touchdown.\u00a0 As the video was transitioning to the next game’s highlights, both Boomer Esiason and Dan Marino could be heard in the background commenting about how Tebow surely didn’t throw the ball, but had to run it in.<\/p>\n

In what my brother-in-law and I both perceived as multiple mocking statements, Marino and Esiason — who have zero Super Bowl rings between them — in effect dissed Tebow for scoring his first touchdown because he ran instead of passed.\u00a0 Last I checked, a running touchdown or a passing touchdown both equal six points.<\/p>\n

Anti-Christian Bias Rears Its Ugly Head<\/h2>\n

At first, the comments by Boomer and Dan surprised me, but then I remembered it was Tim Tebow that they were mocking<\/span> talking about.\u00a0 It seems that Tebow is fair game in the N.F.L. and in the sports media. From the moment that he was drafted in the first round as the 25th overall pick, Tebow has had a target painted on his chest.\u00a0 From the constant harping about his supposed lack of N.F.L. skills, you would think that Tebow had never seen a football, much less picked one up to become one of College football’s greatest players.<\/p>\n

At first, one might think that all of the negative stuff was merely football related.\u00a0 But, when you have two of football’s most well known former quarterbacks laughing at Tebow’s first score as a rookie, one has to wonder what else is at play?<\/p>\n

Could it possibly be that Tebow, a strong Christian who has taken strong stands for his\u00a0Christian values and morality (Super Bowl Pro-life commercial, Scripture verses written under eyes, etc.), has earned the ire and ridicule of N.F.L. elites like Marino and Esiason?\u00a0 How else can you explain the inexplicable double standard?<\/p>\n

Double-Standards Applied to Tim Tebow<\/h2>\n

When Sam Bradford (who Tebow and the Gators beat for the National Championship) scored his first touchdown, was there mocking and ridicule of this young man?\u00a0 I doubt it.\u00a0 When Colt McCoy, who was drafted lower than Tebow, made his first\u00a0N.F.L. touchdown yesterday against the Steelers, how was his accomplishment treated?\u00a0 With respect or disdain?\u00a0 I think I know the answer to that one.\u00a0 When Michael Vick or Drew Brees runs in for\u00a0a score, do the\u00a0commentators disparage the feat because the quarterbacks used their feet?<\/p>\n

I doubt that Tim Tebow really cares what a bunch of talking heads think about his performance.\u00a0 In the end, he probably cares about what God thinks, first and foremost, and then\u00a0what his\u00a0coaches and teammates think.\u00a0 In this life, we will face ridicule and scorn for following Christ, whether on the football field, in the board room,\u00a0or yes, even in the church house.\u00a0 For Tim Tebow and for the rest of us,\u00a0when we are\u00a0ridiculed and made fun of because of the name of Jesus, might we hear the Master say to us yet again:\u00a0\u00a0“BLESSED,\u00a0MAKARIOS, WOOHOOH!!!”\u00a0 <\/strong>Thanks, Dr. Blevins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Originally published on October 18, 2010, and updated on August 31, 2023.) Swamp Kings and the Legend of Tim Tebow I just finished watching “Swamp Kings,” the new Netflix documentary that chronicles the rise of the Florida Gators under Urban Meyer’s tenure as Head Coach from 2005-2010. During a three-year span, the University of Florida…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,11,3449,396,35,38,1913],"tags":[152,166,173,279,304,3448,429,551,689,718,773,3392,892,3447,985,1022],"class_list":["post-952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-culture","category-entertainment","category-football","category-religion","category-sports","category-television-2","tag-bill-cowher","tag-blessings","tag-boomer-esiason","tag-dan-marino","tag-denver-broncos","tag-gator-nation","tag-gators","tag-jesus","tag-n-f-l","tag-new-york-jets","tag-persecution","tag-religion","tag-sermon-on-the-mount","tag-swamp-kings-urban-meyer","tag-tim-tebow","tag-university-of-florida"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LP7G-fm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=952"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5884,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions\/5884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}