Nothing scarier that a Christian athlete!

A recent editorial in USA Today exposes the overwrought hand wringing that comes from the secular elites of the world when faced with a religious person who is actually serious and expressive about their faith. The article focuses on athletes and faith with one particular target. Tom Krattenmaker, writing for USA Today, runs out a thinly veiled hit piece called And I'd like to thank God Almighty

You can, and perhaps should, have a discussion about the outward religious expression in athletics. On the one hand, I find the over the top “I would like to thank God” a bit disingenuous from many athletes who don’t seem to thank God when they lose. On the other hand, there is a solid core of people who are genuine believers throughout the sports world, the guys who don’t generally run people over in their Bentley while drunk and high, who don’t organize dog fighting rings, who don’t get stupid drunk between baseball games and hit their wives. These people take their faith seriously and I would never ask them to not recognize and praise God, win or lose.

Underlying this conversation is a deeper issue Mr. Krattenmaker exhibits in his editorial. He doesn't so much have a problem with exhibitions of faith. He has a problem with Christianity. At least Christianity from Christians who take Christianity seriously. I would assume that he would have no problem with vague, fuzzy ecumenical Christianity that stands for nothing other than being nice to people. But woe to the athlete that dares say what is obvious: we can’t all be right. His particular target is an easy one, Tim Tebow, the homeschooled, prison ministering, Christ proclaiming missionary who also happens to be the most visible player in college football.

But there's more to his story. Tebow does his missionary trips to the Philippines under the auspices of his father's Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association. The Tebow organization espouses a far-right theology. Its bottom line: Only those who assent to its version of Christianity will avoid eternal punishment. The ministry boldly declares, "We reject the modern ecumenical movement."

Good for them. The modern ecumenical movement being referred to is not seeking Christian unity around the truth of the Gospel, it is seeking unity with almost anyone by watering down or denying the Gospel. I went to the beliefs section of the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association and their statement of belief is pretty standard stuff. I might quibble with a watered down decisional regeneration position and their dispensationalism stance, but otherwise what they believe is what orthodox Christians have always believed. There is nothing new or scary here. Meanwhile, Bob Tebow's group runs an orphanage in the Phillipines that cares for around 50 orphaned children. I wonder what Tom Krattenmaker has done for orphans lately?

Again, the Bible teaches that anyone who does not have faith in Christ goes to hell. Jews, in spite of the horrible way they have been treated, do not get a free pass anymore than Muslims do.

The Tebow organization's literature estimates that 75% of the Philippines' inhabitants "have never once heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ." This in a country where more than 80% of the citizens identify themselves as Roman Catholic.

If Mr. Krattenmaker bothered to do any research, he would realize that this is the position of most of Protestant Christianity over the past five hundred years.

But there's a shadow side to this. If their take on God and truth and life is the only right one — which their creed boldly states — everyone else is wrong.

Not a mere abstraction, this exclusiveness sometimes morphs into a form of chauvinism and mistreatment of non-Christians. Witness the incident with the Washington Nationals baseball team in 2005, when the Christian chaplain was exposed as teaching that Jews go to hell. Then there was the New Mexico state football team, which was the target of a religious discrimination lawsuit in 2006 after two Muslim players reported being labeled "troublemakers" and were kicked off the team by their devoutly Christian coach. The case was settled out of court and the students transferred.

A “shadow side”? That is the reality of religion. By believing in belief system A you are implying that every other belief system is by default wrong. The major world faiths are inherently mutually exclusive. But Mr. Krattenmaker has a guaranteed way to get around that: consult a public opinion poll!

What this comes down to is a bigoted but completely expected attack by an unbeliever on Christians who have the temerity to actually believe what they say they believe, to be open in saying so and to reflect those beliefs in their actions. I don't think Tim Tebow is a saint even if he is a Heisman trophy winning, evangelizing, homeschooled, soon to be multimillionaire virgin. I do think that he is facing a tough road because the world loves to worship famous people but hates people who follow Christ. Tim Tebow is going to face a long, hard road. Being rich and famous doesn't make your life easier and that is infinitely more true for a believer. More than fansites, more than money or accolades, Tim Tebow needs prayer because he is going to be a target of small minded people like Tom Krattenmaker.