God, apparently, is a Broncos fan. That’s good news because ever since Elway left (and someone thought Josh McDaniel was a football coach) we’ve needed the help. Of course, to be completely honest, I don’t believe much of what I’ve written so far.
Let me be upfront about this: God doesn’t care who wins a football game. If it turned out that he does have a favorite team he’s going to lose a lot of out-of-town Christians, and He’s a better businessman than that. God also doesn’t care if you get that promotion, if your business succeeds or if you win the lottery.
That’s not to say there is no correlation between Tim Tebow’s faith and the Broncos’ ridiculous winning streak though.
In Matthew 17:20, Jesus explains to a couple of disciples why they are having trouble casting out a demon:
Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, remove from here to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Jesus doesn’t mean they don’t have faith in God, but that they don’t have faith in themselves. The mustard seed is the underdog of seeds, but because the mustard seed believes it can grow, it grows to be the biggest of all the herbs. With that kind of faith, Jesus says, you can move a mountain or beat da Bears in overtime.
Tim Tebow prays for victory (or strength, or whatever), and each time the prayer seems to be answered it isn’t because God wants Tebow to win, it’s answered because Tebow believes it’ll be answered. He has the faith that Jesus was talking about in the mountain parable.
Does that sound familiar? It should. You’ve probably heard this quote from Thomas Edison:
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
Thomas Edison and Jesus are saying the same thing, and it applies to everything we do.
If you think you’ve had faith before and it didn’t work, you may have confused “faith” with “hope.” Faith is hope on steroids. If you’re looking for a promotion, feel free to “hope” you get one soon, and eventually you might.
If you have FAITH you’ll get a promotion though, and BELIEVE enough in the power of whatever you pray to, you’re more likely to get it. Why? Because of the changes that you’ve subconsciously made in your attitude as a result of your faith. Your belief that you are promotion ready will affect the things that you do, and it’s those changes that make you promotion ready in reality – not the prayer for a better job, or the belief in a supernatural being.
Tim Tebow believes so strongly in God that it affects everything around him. Christians will tell you that it’s the God part that makes the difference, but it isn’t. It’s Tebow’s belief that all things are possible if you believe they are. It’s his mustard seed belief in himself – the same faith that anyone, regardless of religious preference, can use to make themselves more confident and willing to tackle challenges.
Positive thinking doesn’t always work, as we’ll see the next time the Broncos lose and the quarterback is asked “Did you lose because you didn’t pray hard enough?” But it works well enough that you can’t find a quote anywhere that contradicts Thomas Jefferson:
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from reaching his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
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