On Eye Black Evangelism

Last night, I watched the NCAA football BCS Championship game. I like college football, but I definitely don't get into it like I used to (I personally think it has become one of the biggest idols in America, but I'll save that for another post). It's only the second game I've watched all year. Nevertheless, a new friend of mine called and asked me to come over and watch the game with him, so I did.

I guess I "pulled" for Florida last night. If nothing else, I was pulling for Tim Tebow. I like the man. He's passionate about what he does, and more importantly, he's passionate about his walk with Jesus.

Last night, Tebow wore some eye black stickers that said "John" under the right eye and "3:16" under the left eye. When I first saw them, my first reaction was along the lines of "Wow. That's a little cheesy." However, I was immediately convicted of something. Although millions of people quote John 3:16 without really understanding it or living it out, Tim Tebow isn't like that. People know where he stands, and he uses whatever method he can to share that to people. He obviously knew that, being the biggest television event of college football, there were going to be a lot of closeups on his face, and he wanted to make the most of it. So he did. He couldn't very well write out an entire evangelistic message on his face, so he did the best he could by showing one of the most concise evangelistic verses in the Bible.

I often find myself wondering why God hasn't given me a bigger platform from which to share the Gospel. I've always wanted to make as big a difference as possible, sharing Christ with thousands of people, you know, kind of like Tim Tebow. However, at this point in my life, God has not given me that opportunity yet. Perhaps it's because of my pride. I admit, if I were to be famous or working at a huge church, it would probably go to my head. But I think the most important reason is that I haven't been faithful in sharing Christ on the small stage. After all, if I can't do a good job sharing the Gospel on a small scale, how could I effectively evangelize on a large scale?

So, props to you, Tim Tebow, for doing everything you could last night to bring glory to God (except for the time you got an unsportsmanlike penalty called on you for taunting another player....I guess you are human after all). As for me, I probably won't ever put John 3:16 on eye black, since I'm not a famous football player.

However, I will do everything I can to share Jesus on every platform that God puts me on, no matter how big or small.