Tim Tebow and Christophobia

I am not American, not an NFL fan and my understanding of the game is basic at best but Tim Tebow has been featuring so prominently in the things I read from the New York Times to The Gospel Coalition that it is hard not to take notice. I guess in some ways this is also a testament to the impact he has made it polarizing American thoughts.

By all accounts, Tebow is a man who would stop at nothing in using his NFL victories to speak about the gospel - and that it is really an admirable trait. But this has also not gone down well with everyone. That sort of response however is not the slightest bit surprising. There is indeed a Christophobic culture emerging in our world today. It is a subset however of the more general atheistic thought that is gaining more and more traction with the emergence of Dawkins and Hitchens.

Countless articles however have been written to point out the irony of the backlash that Tebow is facing. Some worth sharing are below:

Link 1

Link 2

What does the Bible say about all of this?

Such slander and accusations are indeed to be expected (2 Tim 3:1-9). Anyone who claims to follow Christ will indeed take up the cross that comes with doing so. Your intentions will be suspicious, and you will be falsely accused of "spreading agendas" or be part of a larger conspiracy theory and all sorts. Many will tell you to keep your faith private which is in stark contrast to what Christ says about spreading the gospel and making disciples of all nations.

Above all however, the call to love your enemies stands out starkly as ever. Just as Christ prayed for the Lord to have mercy on them (Luke 23:34), so we should not respond fury for fury and slander for slander.

Comments

Lot, Noah, Shem, the Fall - how they all combine together

In this short writing, an attempt is made to show how the accounts of Noah, Shem, Lot, as well as the events after the Fall serve to powerfully combine to reveal the character of God in those who obey Him and those that do not. The stories of Noah and Lot seem disparate but the parallels are incredible. The first connection is the feature of “wine” in both of these accounts. The parallels follow the pattern of (A) God’s salvation act (B) The drinking of wine (C) Actions of the Children. It is easier to see the parallels when they are juxtaposed side-by-side (see picture). The (C) parallel may be harder to observe. Lot’s daughters’ attempts to bear children by their father is in fact the “uncovering of nakedness” prohibited later in the Pentateuch in Leviticus 18:6 -20. The verse below suffices for us to develop our thoughts further: “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord.” (Lev. 18:6) This ties back to the F...

Paul and the Epicurean and Stoic Philosophers in Acts 17

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. (Acts 17:16-21) (1) Christianity is meaningless to a person if it is classified as simply another school of thought, like the Epicureans or...

Did Jesus quote a non-existent verse in John 7:38?

So this was asked in Quora : My response below: The verse is NOT non-existent. The thing is the reference to a river flowing out occurs in a few places in the Old Testament. Thus when Jesus says "As the Scripture has said ..." He is referring to a theme that occurs repeatedly in the Old Testament. It is important to understand what "the rivers flowing out" imply in the Old Testament. They always refer to the dwelling place of God . These occurs in a few places. As early as the Book of Genesis, we see this Scripture in Genesis 2:10 "A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers." (Genesis 2:10, ESV) Therefore, the source of the river = Eden. And Eden is none other than the very dwelling place of God. Biblical theology helps us understand Eden as a "type" of temple. Where else do we see this? We see this again in Ezekiel 47. In Ezekiel 47, in Ezekiel's vision of a New Temple, he pi...

The Gospel According to Yeeks

Search This Blog