RELIGIOUS PEOPLE LIKE TO SHOW OFF
Religious Jews, in Bible times and now, are recognizable by their phylacteries, while Christians and all other brands of religion have their own traditions of public display of righteousness. Perhaps that is why God strongly warned Israel to avoid the religious practices of others. Thus, Jesus’ warnings to the Pharisees are fully consistent with God’s earlier warnings to Israel.

It is common for people in all religions to show off their spirituality. Some do it with clothing, some do it with jewelry, some do it by carrying their Bibles and beads, and some do it by raising their hands while singing. But there are few who do not show off their spirituality in one way or another for others to see. Even the simple act of going to a place of public worship where others can see you doing your religious thing is a way of displaying spirituality.

STUDY TIP: See Making a Name for Yourself for more about religious exhibitionism.

So what is Tebow doing when he genuflects on the field? In the Catholic tradition, genuflection is associated with prayer. Protestants have their own traditions (e.g. kneeling at the altar) that reflect this meaning.Maybe he is praying, we don’t know for sure. What we do think we know, however, is that by his words and actions, Tim Tebow is showing the world that he is spiritual, that he is connected to God. More to the point, he is making a name for himself as a “godly” person. For people who worship the god that Tebow worships, that name is “Christian”; “Strong Christian” in fact because he is so “in your face” with his religion. For people who do not worship the god that Tebow worships, the name is “Religious Flake”, or “Religious Showoff”.  God says that he, and people like him who make public displays are hypocrites.

Apparently, Tebow does not care if people call him disparaging names. Nor does he  care that God sees him as a hypocrite. Apparently, he only cares that fellow believers call him “Christian”. He cares about that for several reasons. First, it fuels his pride. It can be a heady thing to have people find you spiritual. It can be a heady thing to have people idolize you — and thousands do. Look at his website and his Facebook page if you doubt that this is true. Notice how many thousands of people like his postings and comment about them.