Eye Black Christianity: Tim Tebow, Clayton Jennings, and the Power of Celebrity

Seth Dunn takes aim at “Christian” celebrities.  “Tim Tebow lives clean,” says Dunn.  “He visits prisons.  He helps out special needs kids.  He smiles.  He preaches about Jesus.  All of that stuff is good.  But exactly where is his influence leading?”  Dunn offers some answers in his piece over at Pulpit & Pen.  He writes:

“…He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”Isaiah 53:2

One of the worst nights of my life was December 6, 2008.  It was the night of the SEC Championship game in Atlanta, Georgia.  I had spent more money than this father of four ever again expects to have on the purchase of tickets to the game.  I had flown my brother in from Phoenix to attend the game with my wife and myself for his Christmas present.  We are die-hard Alabama fans, the real deal.  We are not the kind of bandwagoners you tend to find in SEC country these days wearing brand-new Alabama hats, purchased after the latest Iron Bowl.  Our Crimson Tide paraphernalia has age (what historians might call “verisimilitude”) – an unopened glass bottle coke with Bear Bryant on it, a blood-stained player wristband obtained outside of Neyland Stadium during the Stallings era, and a faded Dennis Riddle jersey.  In 2003, I cheered for Alabama in the student section of Sanford Stadium as a student at the University of Georgia.  At the dawn of the Fulmer era, my brother covered Volunteer football for the University of Tennessee student paper as an Alabama fan.  We are true believers.  By the time 2008 rolled around, we had impatiently waited through the folly of Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, Mike Shula and an NCAA probation for our beloved Crimson Tide to return to prominence.  They were undefeated.  All that stood between them, the SEC Championship, and a trip to the National Championship game was Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators.  Alabama controlled the game for three quarters.  In the fourth quarter, Florida’s Heisman-Trophy-winning quarterback led a comeback and the Gators defeated the Tide.  Our night was ruined.  You may have heard of that quarterback, his name is Tim Tebow.  He is famous for being one of the best college quarterbacks of all time and an outspoken Christian.

View article →