Tebow’s Christian faith felt off field
Pastors in Class AA town rally around player
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — In a beleaguered neighborhood in Johnson City, Rev. Arnie Buehler tries to make a difference in the lives of the children and teenagers who attend The Bridge Community Center’s after-school program.
While Buehler is a pastor at Valleyview Alliance Church in Vestal, he says most of the kids at the community center don’t attend church. And while he tries to be someone they can depend on, he knows they’re used to people making promises and then breaking them. It can be tough to find common ground.
Sports, though? They’ll talk about that.
About 3 miles away at NYSEG Stadium, a certain Heisman Trophy-winning football-turned-baseball player who has publicly shared his Christian faith in his books, foundation and speaking events stands in left field for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.
For members of Christian churches in the area, Tim Tebow might well be a vehicle to the open discussion of faith.
“Tim’s one of those guys, we’re all rallying behind him,” said David Leandre, formerly lead pastor at Elmira Christian Center. “He’s just involved in a lot of really great representations of what Christians need to be. We’re really excited about that.”
Leandre is a father of four, and he says Tebow’s someone he’d be comfortable pointing out to his 13-year-old son to emulate.
“What’s really nice is Tim’s a guy who is what you see in the media,” Leandre said. “His life off the field is the real deal. That’s so refreshing.”
John Widrick comes from a family of Denver Broncos fans, familiar with the ups and downs of Tebow’s NFL career. He was the Broncos’ starting quarterback in 2011, then was traded to the New York Jets in 2012 and had short stints with the New England Patriots and Phil- adelphia Eagles before turning to baseball in 2016.
For the 100 kids Widrick, who’s a youth pastor at Calvary’s Love Assembly of God in Johnson City, works with — some who’ve dealt with problems at home, school or elsewhere — Tim Tebow is an example of hope.
“They’re looking for something authentic, something real,” he said. “He’s stood for something that was more than football. There’s an authenticity to him.”
Buehler remembers growing up in Ohio and following sports idols such as Barry Sanders and Dan Marino. Sanders was entertaining, he said, and Marino was a great passer. He was a fan of how they did their job on the field. Tebow’s job, he says, continues off the field.
“(Tebow) has strong beliefs that he lives by. He lets God lead his life. I think that’s a huge valuable lesson for the kids to learn, that our lives are not our own,” he said. “We’ve been given this life and the skills to love others.”
KC Sawyer, associate pastor at Oasis Christian Fellowship of Ithaca, who, like Tebow, was home-schooled, says the football-turned-baseball player’s resilience is not to be discounted.
“The biggest thing is he’s someone who failed at his primary goal, to be an NFL quarterback, and he didn’t give up,” he said. “That’s a universal message for anyone who has dreams and goals.”
On May 21, Tebow spoke to the Greater Binghamton chapter of Young Life, a nonprofit, non-denominational youth ministry, at a Young Life All Area Club event at First Baptist Church of Johnson City. The event was free and open to all families.
On the event website, organizers said, “Tebow desires to share his faith and the Gospel, everywhere he goes.”
He’s written several books, including “Through My Eyes,” “Shaken” and, most recently, “This Is the Day: Reclaim Your Your Dream. Ignite Your Passion. Live Your Purpose,” due to be released in September.
Tebow’s foundation, the Tim Tebow Foundation, hosts annual Night to Shine proms for people with special needs in over 500 churches, sponsors the 30-bed Tebow CURE Hospital in the Philippines and helps fund the adoption of special needs children.
It’s an organization created, according to its website, to “utilize the public platform that God has blessed Tim Tebow with to inspire and make a difference in people’s lives throughout the world.”
“I think Tim Tebow’s biggest thing is he accepted Christ and he’s showing how that has produced fruit in his life,” Sawyer said.
Leandre said at the beginning of the season he was planning to go to a Rumble Ponies game this year, maybe even bring a friend or two. During the 2018 season, Leandre says the ballpark is an easy place to strike up a conversation about faith, thanks to the left fielder wearing No. 15.
“It makes people bolder to share their faith, be more open,” he said.
Leandre and other local leaders of Christian churches won’t advise placing too much stock in a 30-year-old baseball player — “Tim Tebow can’t save anyone, only Jesus can,” Buehler says — but his presence, however long it lasts, has created an undeniable buzz in the community and in their churches.
And whether they find the time between pitches to discuss faith and the work they do in their church community or not, Buehler says there’s merit in bringing a group of after-school program kids to the ballpark, rooting for the same team and sharing in the experience.
“Sports do unify people,” Buehler said. “I hope Tim Tebow can rally the community together.”