What we can learn from Tim Tebow: "Occupy Your Beliefs"

Tim Tebow is God's early Christmas present to the city of Denver and the Broncos. He has been nicknamed, "God's Quarterback." He has become a lightning rod and is the most discussed phenomenon of the NFL season. Many NFL analysts have picked him apart and dismissed him as an inexperienced passer with an awkward throwing arm who likes to run over defensive players. Even Tebow's boss, John Elway has been critical and less than enthusiastic toward Tebow.

Prior to this week, if the Broncos had been on a team bus with Elway as the driver, they would have made a stop at a rest area. Then, as the bus is pulling away, someone yells, "Where's Tebow? He's not on the bus!" At that moment, Elway accelerates, guns the engine, putting the pedal to the metal and drives off leaving Tim Tebow behind in a cloud of exhaust. Elway may even be delighted that Tebow lost Sunday's game, although he didn't really--it was the Denver defense that lost that game. But as Rush Limbaugh has pointed out, the media is now excited because they think this proves there's no God.

Some think he's too "in your face" with his faith.

Tim Tebow's story

Why does Tim Tebow generate such a visceral reaction from the media and fans? Because he takes his faith seriously. He "occupies" his beliefs and walks the talk. Early on, the leftist media attacked him for making an anti-abortion ad for Focus on the Family where he stood beside his mom as she talked about how she had been advised to abort Tim in the womb. That ad generated controversy and was considered a litmus test of Tim's conservative political and social identity. It also served up "red meat" for the leftist media, who made it their goal to bring him down or mock his faith as was displayed last week in a tasteless SNL skit.

Tim Tebow has defied his critics, leading the Broncos on a winning streak of six games in a row. He continues to kneel and give God the glory, and verbally thanks Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Some think he's too "in your face" with his faith. But Tim Tebow is who he is. He's the real deal. In off season, he can be found helping the poor and needy in the Philippines, or speaking in prisons. In college, he used his fame to raise money for an orphanage that his family runs. So when Tim Tebow takes a knee and "tebows" ("tebowing" has now become an internet  phenomenon) he is not doing it to be seen by men. He competes hard and win or lose, he will thank God and remind us that it's just a game.

As you watch Tebow, you can't deny that God is working in and through him. God is with Tim Tebow and he is a living example of what God intended for mankind when He made his plans known to Mary and Joseph two thousand years ago.

Joseph who was engaged to Mary but when he discovered that she was pregnant with child, he decided to divorce Mary in a quiet manner to protect her dignity. But God had other plans: One night while asleep, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and set him straight. Joseph was to take Mary as his wife wherein she would give birth to a son whose name would be Immanuel which means "God with us."

We would prefer to climb up to God through argument, experience and good works....

This is the Christmas story, the Incarnation which doesn't just contradict all human reasoning but transcends it--God becoming a man, one of us. We would prefer to climb up to God through argument, experience, and good works. but God has climbed down to us, meeting us not in the "high places" that we erect but in the lowest of places, in the midst of our sinful brokenness and destructive behavior. The Good News of Christmas is that God is with us: abiding, saving, healing, delivering, restoring, empowering, and loving us daily.

That's what Tim Tebow is doing--enjoying his Creator and serving the Lord because he knows that God is with him, working through him. Mr. Tebow is "occupying his faith." That's what Jesus wants to do with each one of us. He wants to be in you and with you in such a way that others around you sit up and take notice. He wants you to "occupy your beliefs." Start living them out, start putting them into practice. Start "walking the talk." 

You don't have to start "tebowing" but you could begin by just acknowledging that you need Jesus to save you, forgive your sins and bring you into a relationship with God, the Father. Then, like Tebow, let others know through your words and actions that you give all glory to God--that it's not about you, but about the One who made you and saved you. In whatever way God shows you, let those around you know that Jesus is the "reason for the season." Occupy your beliefs, until He comes again.

The day I walked away from the protest movement....

Anti-war peace rally. Polo Fields, Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, Nov. 16, 1969

Reading about the Occupy Wall Street protests, I am reminded of my own short-lived participation as a “war protester” at the Vietnam anti-war rally in San Francisco on Saturday, Nov. 16, 1969. 


As a college student, I was drawn to this rally even though  I wasn’t certain as to where I stood on the Vietnam War, having recently opened up LIFE Magazine and shocked to see the image of a childhood friend killed in action in Vietnam.


Being a Christian, I was undecided as to whether I was a pacifist or if I believed in picking up arms to defend oneself and country (I've since reconciled this issue). 


I found myself, along with others from college campuses all over California, I marching in San Francisco with 100,000 others to end the Vietnam War.

Abbie Hoffman

However, it was at the post-march rally in Golden Gate Park as we were being entertained by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young that I received my epiphany.  It occurred during a political diatribe from Abbie Hoffman who had gained fame as one of the Chicago 8 arrested a year earlier at the Democrat Convention in Chicago and well-known for several books including “Steal This Book.” I heard Abbie ranting about President Nixon and his vice-president, Spiro Agnew. At the same time, the rally organizers were taking up a collection to pay the bills. My friends and I coughed up some cash to throw in the bucket headed down our aisle. At that same moment, I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Abbie Hoffman was telling us to  “Off Nixon. Off Agnew.” I knew that this was code for “Kill Nixon. Kill Agnew.” 

It was then and there that I walked away from the anti-war movement which wasn’t about peace at all. It was headed up by angry demonstrators who clocked in for protests at 8 in the morning and clocked out at 5pm so they could watch themselves on the evening news. These same protesters who called for peace in Vietnam didn't even have peace between themselves and their families, or anyone else, especially those with whom they disagreed.

Because of past experiences and maybe some acquired wisdom, I view the Occupy Wall Street protests with a jaundiced eye. One thing I know for certain is that the media is propping up OWS. Many in the media have been telling us for a month that the OWS movement is the left-wing equivalent of the tea party. The vast majority of tea partiers made it clear that their paramount goal was smaller, limited government; they showed up for peaceful one-day rallies, sang patriotic songs, cleaned up after themselves and went home. The OWS mob is unclear about their objectives; they've overstayed their welcome and they have no intention of cleaning up their mess. They are spoiled children who figure that mommy and daddy will come along after them to clean up the mess they are leaving behind.  

The Occupy Wall Street protest has a definite anti-semitic focus, with signs like:“Blame Jewish billionaires.” One Fox news writer likened the OWS protest to a cross between “Lord of the Flies” and a Phish concert. One other distinguishing characteristic that sets  OWS apart from the Tea Party is their endorsement by the Communist Party USA and the American Nazis.  Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on which side of the political spectrum you’re on), the Tea Party has yet to garner any endorsements from these two Left-wing, anti-capitalism, anti-democracy organizations.

 

In closing, I think these young people have been brainwashed and poorly educated  with their heads stuck in the sand, totally ignorant of the facts. Here they are protesting the Wall Street bailouts when in fact, it was Congress’ Tarp funds which bailed out Wall Street. 

Those who believe in capitalism wanted to let the free market run its course. Conservatives don't believe that any bank or institution is too big to fail, including our federal government. 

These protesters should be marching in front of the White House or marching through the halls of Congress or they should be protesting the outrageous college tuition they are forced to pay. The biggest scam today is academia where tuition has increased many times more than the price of a gallon of oil. 

Instead, these young skulls full of mush are giving government and the vaunted halls of academia a "free pass." Why? Probably because most all of them believe in big government. They all vote Democrat. Most of them, if they vote at all, will be voting for Obama in 2012 and while they want to be heard, they don’t want to shine the spotlight on the true cause of our nation’s economic woes, President Obama and Congress. In that sense, they are pawns serving Obama and the Democrat Party. Just as I did years ago, they would all be better off to pack up and walk away from this misguided protest.

Occupy Wall Street protester interviewed by British journalist