Te-Bow or Not Te-Bow, That is the Question

There has been considerable debate recently on the comment boards from even within the Christian community. There are those who believe Tim Tebow is a hero for boldly standing for Christ and giving the glory to God for his successes. And then there are those who believe he is a hypocrite and should be obeying Jesus’ command to go into your closet to pray.

True enough, Christ did say not to go out and pray on the street in order to be seen by men, and that when you pray in private your Father in heaven sees and rewards you openly.  Yet one must ask, is this reference being used in context, and is there also biblical support for an opposing position?

First, let’s examine the excerpt to which these believers are pointing.

^“5Also when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward in full already.

    ⁶But when you pray, go into your [most] private room, and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open.” Matthew 6:5-6

We can see clearly when these scriptures are read completely and in context, Jesus is speaking against the practice of praying on the street corners with the intent of being seen by others. It is unmistakably a matter of the heart.  We are told that they have already received the reward which they sought, specifically, the admiration of men rather than approval or blessing from God.

Now, to what scripture may we look to build a divergent argument?  Perhaps we could look again to the words of Jesus in Matthew:

^“15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:15-16

And again the words of Jesus in John:

“¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:14-15

Jesus is telling us in both of these passages that the light of Christ must be held up plainly for all to see.  We should not hide it from the world, but rather let it be seen in order for Him to be believed. 

John 3:14 refers to Moses lifting up the serpent in the desert.  Let’s consider this story from during the exodus.  The story is actually recorded in Numbers:

“⁸ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” Numbers 21:8-9

Once again we see a physical representation in the Old Testament of a spiritual Truth in the New Testament.  In the Old Testament, the people were perishing. They were experiencing physical death as a result of their sin. Moses was to make a serpent and lift it up on a pole.  Anyone who was perishing could look up to it and be saved.  Did you catch that? If anyone was perishing in their sin, they could look up and see the (serpent) and be saved.

Christ said in the John account that He like the serpent of Moses needed to be lifted up so that those who were perishing could see Him and be saved.

We must hold Him up for others to see. The serpent didn’t do anyone any good on the ground, it had to be lifted up to be seen.

The Matthew account tells us to let our light shine before men. Well, our light is Christ. How can the light be seen unless we put it up on a stand?

But part of the verse says, “that they…may glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Ah hah. Now we see the difference: If your intention is to be seen by men, then go to your closet. If your intention is for God to be glorified, then let your light be seen.  It is entirely dependent upon the heart of the person doing the deed, be it praying or giving alms, etc.

Every time Tim Tebow is interviewed he gives glory to God. Therefore, it seems pretty clear for which purpose he does what he does.  However, no one knows his heart except for the Father and Tim, and the Father knows it even better than Tim does.

Personally, I love to see any public figure openly praising God. Carry on, I say. Bravo!