In Jesus news this week, the outspoken evangelical quarterback known for his Biblically laden Eye Black who even has a prayer position named after him has been traded to my home town team. Yes, Tebow is moving to the Garden State to play for the Jets! I thought I would take this opportunity of having our buddy Tim back in the news to explore a skit that aired on Saturday Night Live this past December in which the Lord visits this faith filled QB and his teammates in the locker room after Tebow led his Broncos to a “miracle win” over the Chicago Bears.
Jesus descends from heaven on a cloud to have a heart to heart with Tim and team. Jesus takes full credit for winning the past six football games, and has come to request that they put forth some effort so Jesus does not have to interrupt his busy schedule to bail them out each week during the forth quarter. Jesus, somewhat begrudgingly, acknowledges the importance of prayer and the Bible but then goes on to tell Tim that practice and discipline are likewise important. Jesus then nonsensically suggests that He Himself prayed to the Bronco’s kicker because of his superior football skills then uses the opportunity to jokingly razz Tebow for being too “in your face” about faith. Upon a football players inquire as to why Jesus bothers to fix football games, Jesus retorts that He “just goes where [He’s] called.” Christ concludes that “You guys gotta help yourselves a little” Before Jesus leaves he jokes about having “sacrificed everything” for them, comments on the likely postmortem destination of the New England Patriot’s QB and coach, then expresses his love for Tim. Jesus also suggested Tim take his faith down a notch. Finally Jesus says Mormonism is all true wishes the team peace as angelic music plays his exit on the clouds.
SNL presents us with a curious blend of clearly embracing some aspects of the Christ of faith, while simply rejecting others. On the affirming side we have a Jesus who is clearly the son of God that hears and answers prayers. We also have allusions to the sacrificial nature of His death, the importance of scripture, and that Jesus judges the living and the dead. The joyful nature Christ emulates in the above clip is not at all all foreign to the tradition and Jesus’s playful sparing with Tebow does have precedence in scripture (I’m thinking particularly of a certain wishy-washy disciple Jesus renamed Rock). Finally, and most importantly, we have a Jesus who clearly loves his disciples in spite of their imperfections and challenges them to be the best people they can be.
Now onto the challenging parts… First, the Mormonism comment was just a throwaway joke clearly in reference to the TV show South Park, which declared Joseph Smith to have founded the one true religion. Secondly, Jesus saying he prays to the Bronco’s kicker was simply a use of hyperbole and not meant to be taken as a deification of Matt Prater. Also Jesus not knowing who the Broncos are playing next week is simple a rejection of His omniscience. But there are two other truly troublesome aspects of the clip to address in detail. This first is the whole basis of the clip, “Does Jesus care who wins football games?” The answer, as most theologians—even the ones at Notre Dame—will tell you is “No.” This premise is where the sketch draws a majority of its comedy from and rightfully mocks such an understanding of God. But I do think it stands as a challenge to our 21st century American culture. There is a real temptation to think of God as some sort of divine butler we can call upon whenever we need or want something, but the reality is God is the one calling us to transform our lives. The Jesus of SNL does call for a transformation, but does so simply because he is tired of being that divine butler. The God of the Judeo-Christian tradition calls us to not only radically transform ourselves, but the world around us so that God’s light may shine forth in all creation.
This brings us to the major conflict I see between Jesus of SNL and Jesus of Christianity. The Jesus who tells Tim Tebow to tone down expressing his faith is simply incompatible with the Jesus who tells his disciples to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19-20) Christians are called to live their faith in every aspect of their life. Now I make no claims to know very much about the inner workings of the real Tim Tebow’s spiritual life, but the outer signs are a powerful witness to the Gospel. Beyond the Eye Black and Tebowing fad, Tim Tebow’s philanthropic work stands as a testament to the reality of his faith. From his work in the Philippines building a hospital and supporting an orphanage to his outreach to children suffering cancer in Florida, Tebow has a long record of living out his Christian Faith and that is something we can look to as inspiration. St. Francis of Assisi once said our mission as Christians is to “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words when necessary.” Far from taking out faith “down a notch,” we need to let our faith inform every aspect of our lives. This may not mean writing Bible verses under our eyes, but it does involve looking for the face of Christ in all those around us.
No comments:
Post a Comment