Tebow, Rodgers, and the Gospel

I know this blog is kinda late, considering the Broncos are out of the playoffs and have been for a while, but I was reading this blog post a while ago and it made me think about Tim Tebow and Aaron Rodgers. Now, for those of you who don't know, both Tebow and Rodgers are professing Christians, but how they profess their faith is noticeably different. While Tebow is exceedingly vocal about his faith and is known for "tebowing" during games after a touchdown, Rodgers said here,

“I feel like my stance and my desire has always been to follow a quote from St. Francis of Assisi, who said, ‘Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.’”

 The stance advocated by Rodgers, one I'll call the "wordless gospel", is one that I grew up hearing. In fact, it was touted as being particularly effective, and probably the evangelism method of choice at my church, although that may merely be my opinion. The problem I'm discovering is that I've never seen that evangelism method work. I've always tried to be a good kid, but the people that knew and know me accept that I'm a Christian and don't really care beyond that.

“I think that the age of the wordless gospel is past.”

People aren't becoming Christians because of my good life, but I don't think that is a statement on the quality of life that I'm living. I don't think you could argue that I'm really missing out on anything distinctly worthwhile by being a Christian. I do think, however, that it is a statement to the efficacy of the wordless gospel evangelism style. Although it may have been particularly effective at one point in history, the wordless gospel doesn't stand out in society today. By and large, your average American lives relatively morally. Above and beyond that, with the typical American hyper-pseudo-tolerant stance on everything (and that's a topic for another blog post entirely), even if someone does stand out as being different because they are living a good life, it is less impactful, because that person has simply found something that's "good for them".

I'm not trying to knock on the people who live good moral lives, using their example as an extension of the gospel. And I will admit that it was probably effective at one point, and is probably effective in certain circumstances still. However, I think that the age of the wordless gospel is past. Honestly, I feel like Christians are using the wordless gospel as an excuse to explain their failure to obey Jesus command in Matthew 28:19-20. I'll admit that this has been me, and still is, to an extent. If this is how you've primarily "preached" the gospel, I'm not trying to make you feel guilty. Rather, I'm trying to challenge your thinking, to make you reconsider why you do what you do. What I want to see, more than one evangelistic tool or another, is the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed to everyone. St. Francis of Assisi is often quoted as saying “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” I submit to you that it is now necessary.

So to Tim Tebow, Aaron Rodgers, and all other Christians who are in the media's spotlight, praise God. Be vocal about your faith. Stay strong in adversity. Flee temptations. Remain above reproach, because we know that the media will find out and parade any information of potential misbehavior. And above all, live to glorify God in everything you do.

Your Turn

What's your opinion on the wordless gospel? Have you seen it be effective in your life or the lives of others? Leave a comment below and let me know!