Tim Tebow. Jeremy Lin.
“Big news: Jeremy Lin and Tim Tebow.” Dave Klassen found himself in the hot-seat on The Drew Marshall Show last weekend. “Do you have a commentary on their differences?”
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Dave Klassen is the National Pro Ministry Director for Athletes in Action. As a Christian whose entire life is surrounded by the sports world, all ears perked waiting of Klassen’s response. For the 0.5% of the population that doesn’t already know, Tim Tebow was a Heisman-winning quarterback in university and recently led the Denver Broncos of the NFL on a surprisingly successful playoff run. Similarly, Jeremy Lin has led his team, the New York Knicks of the NBA, on a surprisingly successful winning streak as of late. But besides their youth and success in the game, these men also share devout faiths in Jesus Christ. The difference comes in approach: one is quiet, the other loud. Drew sought Dave’s opinion and, of course, the temptation would be to pick sides.
“It’s personality for most of it. Tim is very vocal, very prominent. If you look at what he did in university, compared to what he’s doing now, it’s no different. Jeremy Lin is strong too and vocal but in a different way.” So why the flagrant abuse of Tim Tebow and the relative acceptance of Jeremy Lin? “One of the biggest issues is that the secular community is more comfortable with Lin’s personality.”
Drew sought to illustrate. “Let’s say there’s a guy who’s Christian and one of them just grinds everybody’s nerves with ‘Jesus this’ and ‘Jesus that’: spiritual overdose. Would you ever pull up a guy like that? Or just let them go?”
Dave has had to do that before and credits a lot of it to maturity. “I don’t think anyone wants to offend anyone,” he says, altruism showing through. But it’s not just Christians that offend. “The same is true for the guy who plays the blaring swearing music in the locker room. Sometimes we are too aggressive.” And that includes Christians. “There is a place where it offends and it is a personal walk with Jesus Christ. There is a place to be zealous and a place to withdraw.”
So… what about you? What’s your take on these two men and how they share their faith? Is one more effective than the other? Should we aim to be as quiet as Lin or as loud as Tebow?
4 Responses to “Tim Tebow. Jeremy Lin.”
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good article i think there is a balance for our faith we must discern on when to share our faith and when not to. good article, thanks for posting it
Thanks for posting this interview. I respect both these athletes immensely and think that they are making a huge impact in the sphere’s of influence. After reading the above comment I felt I needed to defend Tebow. :) If you have read his bio and listened to his post-game interviews I feel like he is just as much of a team player and team encourager as Lin. I don’t think that the pro-life commercial was at all to bring attention to himself, but just to a real personal experience as his mother was faced with the decision to abort him because the doctor’s thought he would have both physical and mental disabilities. I think both these men are challenging others to live for Jesus courageously in each of their unique ways. They are using the platform to make a difference for Christ; with courage and integrity in both word and deed, not perfectly, but clearly these two men love Jesus.
Interesting thoughts. I wonder if part of it is a cultural difference. Tim Tebow’s actions and words seem to stand out (“Tebowing” and commercials that he does for pro-life) and bring attention to himself.
If Jeremy Lin is like the majority of Asians, he’d rather not bring attention to himself. Instead, he seems himself more as a part of a community than as an individual. In his interviews, he regularly shares credit with his teammates and his coaches and thanks the fans for their support. When he does give credit to God, he does it with his teammate Laundry, in their geeky pre-game routine.