Tebow: How faith leads to victory
Tebow's quiet, unshakable, confidence that everything will work out for the best inspires a high degree of optimism among his teammates.
Tim Tebow may be a miracle worker, said Andrew Sullivan in TheDailyBeast.com, but he’s not a very good Christian. The devoutly religious Denver Broncos quarterback with the ugly throwing motion has become a national sensation by leading his team to six wins in the last seven games—all through jaw-dropping, act-of-God comebacks in the final minutes. Tebow, however, has become a divisive figure in the nation’s culture wars, by flaunting his faith at every opportunity: thanking Jesus in every interview, pointing to Heaven after every touchdown, and spending so much time in prayer on the sideline in his signature prayer-pose—bowing his head, kneeling on one knee. Sorry, but this is not how Jesus instructed followers to act. In the Bible, Jesus says that believers should “be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men”; those who pray in public view, He warns, “will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” So why do Christians regard Tebow as a hero?
Tebow’s an evangelical, said Patton Dodd in The Wall Street Journal, and evangelicals follow Jesus’ other instruction, that you shouldn’t “hide your light under a bushel.” Furthermore, Tebow backs up his piety with actions. Off the field, he spends his free time building hospitals, fund-raising for orphanages, and working with the poor. Somehow, being such a “straight arrow” has become controversial, said Rich Lowry in NationalReview​.com. What a sad indictment of our cynical culture that “a player who embodies everything meant by the cliché ‘role model’ is for his critics a figure of fun, or even hatred.”
I wish Tebow would tone down the God stuff, said Daniel Engber in Slate.com, because it’s “making me question my atheism.” Tebow is a “mediocre quarterback,” playing for a lousy Broncos team that had a 1-4 record before he took over its huddle. What has happened since then defies all rational explanation. You need not share Tebow’s faith to see that it’s a big part of his success, said Frank Bruni in The New York Times. In dire situations that would discourage most other players, Tebow has a quiet, unshakable confidence that everything will work out for the best. His teammates are inspired by this, and more often than not, it does work out. Optimism matters—a lot. That’s a lesson all of us can learn from Tim Tebow’s weekly miracles.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
The manosphere: the shady online network of masculinists
The Explainer A new police report said a rise in radicalised young men is contributing to an increase in violence against women and girls
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
How can we fix tourism?
Today's Big Question Local protests over negative impact of ever-rising visitor numbers could change how we travel forever
By The Week UK Published
-
Simone Biles: Rising – an 'elegantly paced and vulnerable' portrait of the gymnast
The Week Recommends Netflix's four-part documentary is more than a 'riveting comeback story'
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published