Fighting Temptation Like Tim Tebow

On Tim Tebow...

Ever since I was old enough to hold my head upright on my own, I've always been just a one-sport fan. Even as a little kid, football has been my game of choice and—as a Denver native—the Broncos and Buffaloes were my first love. So I was thrilled that arguably the best quarterback ever to play the game recently got picked up by Denver. So excited, in fact, that I've toyed with making Peyton Manning t-shirts that simply say "Elway who?". (I get a cut if you make them and get rich). But I was bummed that Tim Tebow went to the Jets in the process. I admit, Tebowmania was alive and well in my house last fall. I was doubly pleased that he seemed to be a level-headed and outspoken Christian (those two don't come together as often as I'd like in the public forum).

He's also outspoken about his virginity, which made him a prime candidate for what happened a couple months ago (I know, I know, "Real current, Jared"). A website that makes a profit by facilitating affairs offered a reward of one million dollars if anyone could get Tebow to lose his virginity before marriage—or prove that it had already happened.

My first response when I heard the news about the bounty this website had offered—which site shall remain nameless—was "Poor Tim! As if any guy needs more temptation, especially someone that famous!" But as I thought about it a little more, I decided it might actually be advantageous to know that behind every tempting beauty stands an entity that is only plotting your very painful (and very public) demise.

So my reaction shifted quickly from "Poor Tim!" to "Lucky Tim!". After all, he's now been warned and can prepare for temptation ahead of time with the truth that there is a plot for his downfall hidden inside the temptation.

On the rest of us...

It was then that I was reminded of a couple verses:

    Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
(1 Peter 5:8 ESV)
    Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
(Ephesians 6:11 ESV)
    But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
(James 1:14-15 ESV)

 And I realized something. We have all been warned and can prepare for temptation with the truth that there is a plot for our downfall hidden inside the temptation. Your pet sin may not be lust. It may be anger, jealousy, or pride. You name it. And despite what some preachers may tell you, Satan may not personally be orchestrating each of your tempting moments. Usually our own sinful nature is perfectly suited to the task. But these two are in collusion. We don't have to divide out which temptations are from our own flesh and which are from the devil. We just need to fight them with the weapons available to us through the gospel and Scripture.

So we all need to be fighting temptation like Tim Tebow. And no, I don't mean putting verses on eye black beneath your eyes. I mean being on your guard like there's a bounty on your head. I mean availing yourself of the weapons of the gospel, of the truth, and of grace. I mean walking through your day with the awareness that there is a malicious entity out there actively plotting your downfall. Because, well, there is.

5 Reasons a Thoughtful Person Would Begin Their Religious Quest With Christianity

Lee asked me to write a couple posts in a response to a question we got from someone at Redeemer. The questions were simple enough: "What makes Christianity right and all the other religions wrong?" and "Why Jesus?". The answers are a little harder than the questions (which is usually the case). But I thought I would share something from my blog that I think is a helpful precursor to these questions:


Five Reasons A Thoughtful Person Would Begin Their Religious Quest With Christianity

1. Christianity is testable. (1 Corinthians 15:12-19) In Christianity objective evidence exists and matters. It literally hangs the entire religious system out for objective scrutiny, inviting people to test it. You can make decisions for or against the Christian worldview based on objective evidence. This explains perhaps why Christianity is the object of "affection" for atheists when attacking religion. How long will it take you to investigate the claims of Christianity? It might take a week, it might take years, but at least you can investigate them.

2. Salvation in this system is free. There might be glimmers of grace in Hinduism and Buddhism, but every other major world religion is about doing stuff that is going to please some deity. Only Christianity turns the popular view of religion as moral conformity on its head and offers a relationship with God that is not based on our moral performance.

3. Christianity paints a picture of the world that matches reality. Of course, this is a huge claim that cannot possibly be tested in all its applications. However, we can begin to test this thesis using one of the more popular arguments against the existence of God, the problem of evil. Specifically, one should look at the way that different worldviews handle the issues of evil, pain and suffering. Most eastern religions portray evil, pain and suffering as "illusion" that you need to overcome and transcend. Christianity takes evil, pain, and suffering seriously. Christianity says not only is evil, pain, and suffering real but God takes it so seriously that he gets down with the the sufferer in their pain to bear them up. Jesus, of course, is the ultimate picture of this.

4. Christianity allows you to live a holistic life. In Christianity, we get to use our minds in our worship, we get to think about God. We use our minds to worship God, we are to reason and it's supposed to make sense. You worship God with the same mind that you approach every other aspect of your life, you don't need to compartmentalize. In eastern traditions (those religions that most often make the claim of being holistic), your reason might actually be an impediment in your religious progress.

5. Christianity has Jesus at the center. Jesus is the universal religious figure that every major religion wants to co-opt. If you're a Buddhist, you might claim that Jesus is an incarnation of the Buddha or at least an enlightened teacher. If you're Hindu, you might believe that Jesus is an avatar of Vishnu. If you're in Islam, if you read the Koran, Jesus emerges as a figure greater than Mohammad himself. If you're on a religious quest, it makes sense to start with the religion that centers around the greatest universal religious figure in human history.

This was a presentation developed by Craig Hazen as presented on one of my favorite weekly podcasts, Stand To Reason, hosted by Greg Koukl. This was a cross-post from the Christians In Context blog originally published in Sept. 2010.

3 Ways the Gospel Should Influence Leaving a Tip

I've worked in the service industry longer than I have in the church (at least as far as payroll is concerned). I am currently still bi-vocational and work part-time at my church and full-time as a shuttle driver for a hotel here in Omaha. I am paid below minimum wage, so tipping is an expected part of my income by my employers.

I've experienced good tippers and bad ones, but the most memorable ones were those whom I knew were Christians and yet tipped like they were Pharisees (All law, no grace. Bare minimum, no generosity). Particularly painful to me have been the large groups of Christians who occasionally take over the hotel for an event and the entire group tips poorly, because I know I'm not the only one who's tempted to form an opinion of these Christians by their tipping. I've even found myself apologizing to co-workers on behalf of other Christians and trying to use the opportunity as a springboard into presenting the gospel. Believe me, that's a tough sell (perhaps I'll write a post on that in the near future). But for now, I want share some guidelines I formed for myself after serving just such Christians.

1. Your tip should reflect Christian generosity. God's generosity towards us should affect the bank account, every Christian knows that. But there is perhaps no better test on how great a hold the idol of mammon still has on us than how we tip. Disagree? "What about giving to the church and charities?", you ask. But both of those we do with our "Christian hat" on, when we give to such things we are acting out of our Christian sensibilities. When you tip, however, I bet you're all business. Right down to the penny (or rounded to the dollar if your lazy or bad at math). My brothers, this should not be!

2. Your tip should demonstrate grace—not law. If there's a problem with my meal, the last thing I do is take it out of the tip. I want to give the server every chance to make up what could be honest mistakes or problems out of their control. To begin subtracting from the tip before giving the server an opportunity to make it right reflects the heart of a hard-nosed legalist, not a heart stricken by grace.

But—and this is a huge "but"—nothing models gospel grace like a generous tip even after a server has blown it, been made aware of it, and was unable or failed to "make it right". I know this is a hard pill to swallow for many of you (myself included), but why should the tip be the last thing to be impacted by the grace that has been poured out on us? I've talked to Christians who will simply gush about the grace of Christ towards us . . . and then not think twice about leaving a terrible tip for terrible service. Why reinforce the system of law by which the whole world runs when we have the resources of grace to draw from?

3. Your tip should embody the gospel. I know, I know. "Embody the gospel? In a tip?!" But if the gospel really is the all-encompassing reality that it is, then it should affect every area of our lives, and every area of our lives can reflect it. When Christians tip, we should not only give more than expected (point 1), and give more than deserved (point 2), your tip should be a tangible outgrowth of the grace and generosity you yourself have received as not just an undeserving but ill-deserving sinner. We have all performed below what was expected of us and even in direct rebellion against the one we were made to serve. And yet the gospel is that God gave out of his riches both generously beyond what we could have hoped for and graciously beyond what we ever could have earned. And if God has given out his endless and bottomless generosity on our behalf, we have that same treasury to draw from. The gospel allows us to release our vice-grip on earthly riches and instead use it as a tool for the gospel.

Bonus point: Don't leave a gospel tract unless you've done points 1-3. So maybe gospel tracts aren't your thing (they probably aren't unless your 40 or older). My church encourages members to take our pens with them and leave them around. I have business cards with all the church info on it. But if you have anything you like to leave in the name of evangelism, don't leave it unless you are tipping out of generosity, grace, and the gospel. To leave a gospel tract with an average or poor tip is unattractive at best. To leave a gospel tract instead of a tip is downright detrimental. That's like saying, "You need this and I know it. I need this and I don't know it." If your tip doesn't grow out of the gospel message of grace and generosity, then your tract probably won't communicate it.

Can't afford to tip this way? Then, as one in the service industry, I would suggest one of two things. Either eat at fast/casual restaurants where you place your order at a counter and no tip is expected, or dine out in such a way that no one knows your a Christian (i.e. no prayer, no "Jesus talk", no books at the table with crosses on the front). I think you know which option I would suggest.


Feedback: Have you ever worked in the service industry? What do you think is a good tip? Do you think a gospel tract left with the tip is ever effective? 

This is a cross-post from the Christians In Context blog.

Recommended reading for Christian men

Recently, someone from church asked me to recommend some books for Christian guys who want to grow as Christians, as leaders, and as men. The following brief list was my recommendation:

Date Your Wife - Justin Buzzard     I know, I know, you're not married yet. But this book spends more time talking about what it means to be a man, created in the image of God, and what it means to be a faithful image bearer than it does about being married.

Crazy Love - Francis Chan     Not just a book for men, but a book that uses simple speak to say some challenging things to the church. It will push you.

Don't Waste Your Life - John Piper     One of my favorite authors and preachers, this is a partially autobiographical book about how John came to realize the only thing worth pursuing in life.

Death By Love - Mark Driscoll     I don't think there's more of a man's man preacher/author than Mark Driscoll. While none of his books are specifically on manhood, this is probably his strongest and most forceful book to date.

The Masculine Mandate - Richard Phillips    I've just started reading this, so I can't give you a hearty endorsement yet, but what I've read is good and this is as close as my recommendations have come to a book on biblical manhood. 

Feedback: What would you add to this list?