Posterized!

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—
and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works,
so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)

I have a quote hanging on my desk at my office by Wendell Deyo, former Athletes in Action president. It reads:

"A society looking up to athletes as heroes must find heroes looking up to God."

I love that quote.  Hence the reason it is hanging up in my office. But more than the quote, I love when it actually becomes true.

This morning while watching an episode of Outside the Lines on ESPN I was reminded of this quote.

OTL ran a story about the controversy behind Tim Tebow's faith. Or, more so, the controversy about him being so vocal about his faith.

If you don't know who Tim Tebow is, he is a current player for the NFL's Denver Broncos and former 2-time National Champion and Heisman Trophy winner for the University of Florida. Oh, and he is a Christian.

He has been vocal about his faith ever since he first gained a platform at Florida. He became known for his post-game interviews where he gave God glory for his success and praised Him even when he failed. His eye black with scripture references (as seen in pic) became a hot topic. And his summer mission trips to share the Gospel in third-world countries were feature stories on all the sports networks. In other words, his faith and walk were no secret.

That's why it shocked me this morning when the show aired about the controversy. Apparently when his platform got bigger (NFL), so did his haters. No, literally, there are "I Hate Tim Tebow" clubs and facebook pages and YouTube clips and whatever else people with a lot of time on their hands are able to come up with.

There are people who HATE that Tim Tebow is vocal about his faith. And on OTL, the commentators went as far as to say that the reason Tebow isn't a starter in Denver is because of this controversy. Not his ability. Not his speed or accuracy or composure. Not his work ethic. His faith. Wow!

Now, I could go on and on and on about this. I could get on my soapbox and rant for a long while.

But I won't.

I will only say this. I will be a Tim Tebow fan. I will cheer for him and pray for his success. I WILL purchase Tim Tebow posters for my nephews to hang in their rooms. Because if my nephews are going to be looking up to an athlete, I want to encourage them to look up to one who is looking up to God.