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This morning I read two stories concerning Tim Tebow which described two very different responses to a controversy related to Tebow.

The first was a story (LINK) about a couple of high school boys who were suspended for “tebowing” (praying) in the halls between classes. I’m not one who thinks we should be fighting for any form of official school prayer, but I do believe kids should be able to pray in school when they want to as an expression of free speech. So, my first reaction to this story was disgust. If I was one of those boys I would have certainly wanted to fight the administration. But, then I got to the end of the article where Tebow himself was quoted. He told the media "You have to respect the position of authority and people that God's put as authority over you. So that's part of it, and just finding the right place and the right time to do things is part of it, too." What an unusual response for an American Evangelical – I was impressed.

The second story (LINK) was about how Pat Robertson and others are outraged because of a Saturday Night Live sketch in which Jesus appears to Tebow and the Broncos and tells them that he is the reason they’ve been winning, but they need to help him out a little bit. Pat Robertson said the sketch was "anti-Christrian bigotry that's just disgusting." Adding, "If this had been a Muslim country and they had done that, and had Muhammad doing that stuff, you would have found bombs being thrown off, and bodies on the street!” What if find most disturbing about Robertson’s response is that it almost seems as if he wishes he could throw some bombs.

I saw the skit. I didn’t think it was particularly offensive, or done in a mean-spirited way. Some of the jokes were actually pretty funny and some of the points that the sketch made were valid. (Now hopefully Tebow doesn’t make some statement after I post this which totally negates my point here, but so far it appears that he hasn’t made any comment concerning the sketch.) The difference between Tebow’s and Robertson’s responses is rather interesting. This really makes me respect Tebow, it’s nice to see an outspoken Christian who just wants to share his faith and doesn’t seem to have any desire to get caught up in the culture war. He seems to be a very positive person.

And, this leads me to one observation I have concerning the SNL sketch, and this is also I think at least partly why so many people have a problem with Tebow. It’s not that he prays; many pro athletes pray, or make some other sign of thanks to God after scoring. Many celebrities give thanks to God. And, the practice of giving ‘props’ to God has resulted in comedians poking fun before Tebow came along. What makes Tebow different? I think the SNL sketch reveals the answer – it’s his enthusiasm. The guy is just so positive. In our cynical, ‘irony’ loving society, where most of us are afraid to show our excitement for fear of being seen as un-cool, or naïve, we just don’t know how to respond to someone who is so transparent. Tone it down, Tebow, you’re making us uncomfortable.