Tim,
Like most of the free world, I've followed your career since Florida and was especially proud to watch your team's run at the playoffs this year. You fought hard and continued to prove the skeptics wrong week after week. I can't wait to see what your 2012 season will look like.
I wanted to take a quick second and encourage you about something that I know may be troubling you, as you finish out your first real year in the NFL spotlight.
I know you strive to set an example for others. You honor your teammates. You proclaim a positive message in every circumstance. You play harder than anyone I've ever seen. You win. And because of this, there are thousands who believe in you.
But as I said before, your potential as an NFL quarterback has also had its share of skeptics. And every game has "experts" on the sidelines and behind the cameras waiting for you to fail. Their desire to see you fail has very little to do with you - and everything to do with them. They simply want to be right. They want validation for their previous cynical judgements. They said you didn't have what it takes, and they simply want to have gambled right. They have nothing against you personally, but until you fail - and fail big, they have to struggle with the idea that they may be wrong. And once you do, then they'll feel like they know what they are talking about. I imagine that's a lot of pressure.
In the same way, many people target you because of your faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, many of these people are the same ones from the last paragraph. They sit on the sidelines and behind the commentary booths and wait for you to slip. They think you are too good to be true. That this whole "Born Again" thing is too much. They scoff at the idea that you see vanilla ice cream as a vice. And they wait anxiously for you to fail. I imagine that's a lot of pressure.
To the skeptics in the first paragraph, I would like to say that it's okay. Sometimes rookies surprise you.
To the skeptics in the second paragraph, I would like to say that it's okay. Tim will fail.
You will fail because you are just like every other sinner who has been saved by grace, through faith. We all struggle. We all sin. But when a cynical, self-validating world sees sin and failure in the life of Tim Tebow - they'll diverge like sharks to blood in the water. And in that moment, it may feel like you've lost. But please remember, that in that failure will quite possibly be your greatest opportunity to convey the grace that God has for us.
They will say it was all an act. You can show that God doesn't require perfection, but offers forgiveness with no regard to our performance.
They will focus on your failure. You can point them towards God's grace.
For all of those people who have missed the point all along, who didn't understand what it meant when you gave the glory to your Lord and Savior, and instead focused and believed in you - it may be that moment to turns their attention to Him.
I say this because I know it may be tempting to white-knuckle your way through life these days, struggling with whatever temptation troubles you, for fear of letting down those who believe in you. But I simply encourage you to stay real, honest and open - and they will learn to believe in Him.
They will be reminded that we all struggle. We all fail. But our failure is not final. His grace is sufficient. And victory is promised in the end. A victory much greater than any Superbowl.
Congratulations on a fantastic season.
2 Corinthians 12:9
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