God's people in sports

Tim Tebow’s 316 yards inspire ‘John 3:16’ searches

By Elizabeth Tenety

 
Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow prays after the Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime in the NFL AFC wild-card playoff football game in Denver on Sunday. (MARC PISCOTTY - REUTERS) The Denver Broncos’ playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night was unlikely enough, but Tim Tebow’s passing yardage — the Christian quarterback threw 316 yards — sent commentators over the edge. The Associated Press reported that he also averaged 31.6 yards per completion. The religious connotations to John 3:16, a famous Bible verse, were too much for many to chalk up to chance.

For the true believers, it was no coincidence.

View Photo Gallery: The quarterback for the Denver Broncos has become a polarizing 
figure in football, in part because of his outward displays of Christian faith.

Tebow has said previously that the Bible verse, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” is his favorite. When he wore the Scripture verse on his eye black during the National Championship Game in 2009, the term “John 3:16” was reportedly Googled more than 90 million times.

The Bible verse quickly became the most searched Google term Monday.

The Christian athlete has faced repeated criticism during this NFL season for wearing his faith on his sleeve. Bill Maher criticized Tebow (and Jesus) in a controversial Tweet after a Denver loss, and “Saturday Night Live” mocked the quarterback in a skit in which Jesus suggested that the quarterback “take it down a notch.”

Some say that the religious significance of Sunday’s game went deeper than the stats. In a column this weekend for The Washington Post’s Outlook section, David Kuo and Patton Dodd set up the showdown between Tebow and Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger this way:

“Tebow and Roethlisberger point to the essential aspects of evangelicalism, the ones that make it persist — its missionary, proclamatory character on the one hand, and its private, searching piety on the other. The former wants to appeal to the whole world, which is why Tebow’s family raised him not only to preach, but to persuade others with a winning demeanor. The latter wants a changed life; Roethlisberger, in evangelical parlance, rededicated his life to Jesus after a period of backsliding, because he knew no other way to break his pattern of misbehavior.”

 
 All the kids are Tebowing (and honoring Abbey Road?) these days, apparently.

Declared a “Protestant Saint” by some, Tebow has a supernatural way of drawing in football’s faithful fans even when his game performance doesn’t come through.

“The difference between his gesture and other athletic signals to the divine, however, is that Tebow has made clear in every bestselling book (he just has one so far, at the age of 23) and every interview he gives that his devotion is particular: that Jesus Christ is his ‘Lord and Savior,’” wrote Sean S. O’Neil for Religion Dispatches.

New York Knick's Jeremy Lin Is a Praying Man

 After Jeremy Lin set an NBA record for the New York Knicks with an incredible stretch of 109 points scored in his first four starts, and the New York Times included a link to StudentSoul in one of its Lin stories, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's page views went through the roof. "Linsanity" it has been dubbed.

Because he was a varsity athlete, Lin's involvement in the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Christian Fellowship (HRAACF) and the broader Asian community at Harvard was somewhat limited, according to Adrian Tam, who was an HRAACF Campus staffer during that period.

"Jeremy was in the spotlight at Harvard before he was in the spotlight in the NBA," Tam says. "He showed that Asian-Americans could be leaders, they could be athletic, and they could be bold and open about their faith in a winsome way."

In a video testimony, Lin said he missed Christian community at Harvard until he connected with HRAACF. Tam became a spiritual mentor to Lin, meeting with him regularly, studying the Bible together and reading together such books as Too Busy Not to Pray. "He loved his roommates, spending lots of intense one-on-one time with them, leading investigative Bible studies with them, and just plain hanging out with them," Tam says.

What Tam remembers most about Lin, from the time they first met, was his humility. "Even though he was more accomplished, smarter and just plain bigger than I was, he always treated me with respect and honor," Tam says. "He was real with me, earnestly desiring to follow God in all things. He had a quiet ambition--not only to be the best basketball player he could be, but also to be the best Christ-follower he could be." 

"Jeremy Lin is the kind of alum that makes InterVarsity Asian American Ministries proud," says James Choung, director of InterVarsity's Asian American Ministries (AAM). "I'm not talking about his prowess on the court, though it's fun to see. What I love is that when he's given the spotlight, he gives glory to God and others in a way where his humility shines through. And because of who he is, he's giving national attention to Asian-American Christianity as a whole."

 After Jeremy Lin set an NBA record for the New York Knicks with an incredible stretch of 109 points scored in his first four starts, and the New York Times included a link to StudentSoul in one of its Lin stories, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's page views went through the roof. "Linsanity" it has been dubbed.
 
Because he was a varsity athlete, Lin's involvement in the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Christian Fellowship (HRAACF) and the broader Asian community at Harvard was somewhat limited, according to Adrian Tam, who was an HRAACF Campus staffer during that period.

"Jeremy was in the spotlight at Harvard before he was in the spotlight in the NBA," Tam says. "He showed that Asian-Americans could be leaders, they could be athletic, and they could be bold and open about their faith in a winsome way."

In a video testimony, Lin said he missed Christian community at Harvard until he connected with HRAACF. Tam became a spiritual mentor to Lin, meeting with him regularly, studying the Bible together and reading together such books as Too Busy Not to Pray. "He loved his roommates, spending lots of intense one-on-one time with them, leading investigative Bible studies with them, and just plain hanging out with them," Tam says.

What Tam remembers most about Lin, from the time they first met, was his humility. "Even though he was more accomplished, smarter and just plain bigger than I was, he always treated me with respect and honor," Tam says. "He was real with me, earnestly desiring to follow God in all things. He had a quiet ambition--not only to be the best basketball player he could be, but also to be the best Christ-follower he could be."

"Jeremy Lin is the kind of alum that makes InterVarsity Asian American Ministries proud," says James Choung, director of InterVarsity's Asian American Ministries (AAM). "I'm not talking about his prowess on the court, though it's fun to see. What I love is that when he's given the spotlight, he gives glory to God and others in a way where his humility shines through. And because of who he is, he's giving national attention to Asian-American Christianity as a whole."

After Jeremy Lin set an NBA record for the New York Knicks with an incredible stretch of 109 points scored in his first four starts, and the New York Times included a link to StudentSoul in one of its Lin stories, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's page views went through the roof. "Linsanity" it has been dubbed.
 

  Because he was a varsity athlete, Lin's involvement in the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Christian Fellowship (HRAACF) and the broader Asian community at Harvard was somewhat limited, according to Adrian Tam, who was an HRAACF Campus staffer during that period.
"Jeremy was in the spotlight at Harvard before he was in the spotlight in the NBA," Tam says. "He showed that Asian-Americans could be leaders, they could be athletic, and they could be bold and open about their faith in a winsome way."
In a video testimony, Lin said he missed Christian community at Harvard until he connected with HRAACF. Tam became a spiritual mentor to Lin, meeting with him regularly, studying the Bible together and reading together such books as Too Busy Not to Pray. "He loved his roommates, spending lots of intense one-on-one time with them, leading investigative Bible studies with them, and just plain hanging out with them," Tam says.
What Tam remembers most about Lin, from the time they first met, was his humility. "Even though he was more accomplished, smarter and just plain bigger than I was, he always treated me with respect and honor," Tam says. "He was real with me, earnestly desiring to follow God in all things. He had a quiet ambition--not only to be the best basketball player he could be, but also to be the best Christ-follower he could be."

"Jeremy Lin is the kind of alum that makes InterVarsity Asian American Ministries proud," says James Choung, director of InterVarsity's Asian American Ministries (AAM). "I'm not talking about his prowess on the court, though it's fun to see. What I love is that when he's given the spotlight, he gives glory to God and others in a way where his humility shines through. And because of who he is, he's giving national attention to Asian-American Christianity as a whole."

Read more about new