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JONI B. HANNIGAN
Managing Editor
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| After preaching a sermon and offering an invitation, Tim Tebow, University of Florida’s starting quarterback, speaks to individuals gathered at a high school stadium in Starke in May. Organizers from First Baptist Church said there were 107 decisions for Christ at the youth rally. Courtesy photo |
STARKE (FBW)-For sure, it’s his ability to throw a football that got University of Florida’s Tim Tebow a Heisman Trophy last year—and earned the team a chance at the BCS National Championship tonight. But more than his ability to play football, it’s Tebow’s leadership that has people asking more, says Starke student pastor Joe Fennell.
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| Click on image for related Tebow coverage |
“Our society and our culture elevate sports and football players and they are not used to seeing someone play the way that he does. I think it’s not so much the football player in him; I think it’s that he’s filled with that leadership that God’s given him that’s built-off of Scripture,” Fennell told Florida Baptist Witness. “In his love for the Lord he just goes out there on the football field and he wants to honor God. That fills him with so much passion.”
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| University of Florida’s starting quarterback Tim Tebow (right) spoke at a youth rally in Starke in May where close to 2,500 gathered. His parents, Bob and Pam Tebow (left), joined him on the platform for prayer with Rodney Coe, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Starke which sponsored the event. Courtesy photo |
Fennell knows. He’s seen Tebow up close and personal. Although it was in a football stadium, Tebow was not throwing or running the ball, but preaching to an estimated 2,500 youth last May at a rally hosted by First Baptist Church in Starke.
“It’s exciting to see him as a popular football player, but I think there’s even more of a draw for him because people know he’s going to speak from his heart,” Fennell said. “There’s so much more passion surrounding everything that he does.”
The church worked for 18 months to invite 32 youth groups ranging from 10-125 members from Northeast and North Central Florida to hear Tebow present a Gospel message. At his invitation, nearly 40 counselors were ready with decision cards and referrals when 107 young people and adults gave their lives to Christ, Fennell said.
At the church—in close proximity to the University of Florida, and where youth and students are a top priority with three youth rallies planned each year and a number of mission trips—the excitement isn’t over.
Two men made decisions to serve God in ministry, specifically citing Tebow’s “passion and determination” as encouraging them to take this step, Fennell said, and dozens of families have said their children look up to “Timmy” for taking a stand for Christian values, missions and ministry.
Calling Tebow a leader both on and off the field, Fennell said this quality was something obviously nurtured by his “grounded family” and through involvement at First Baptist Church in Jacksonville where he took part in the children’s program growing up.
“What people in the media talk about and what they see on the football field, I think where that comes from, is the fact that he is so passionate about honoring God in everything he does,” Fennell said.
It’s that very essence of honoring God that causes people to be attracted to Tebow, Fennell said, because it surrounds him with a deep humility.
“Scripture teaches if we humble ourselves, in due time God will exalt and I think because of his humility, that’s why he has been given such an extreme platform,” Fennell said.
Without hesitation, Fennell called Tebow a “servant leader.”
“It really takes a servant to lead others and he, without question, has that,” Fennell said of the 6-3, 240-pound, left-handed Academic All-American. “He’s extremely humble.”
Recalling the pleasant evening in May when Tebow took to the microphone—mincing no words when it came to talking about heaven and hell, sin and repentance—Fennell said the then 20-year-old Tebow prayed and chatted easily with students.
“Even the night that he was here, it was a look of his face that [said], ‘I’m so honored that someone would want to take a picture with me, that someone would want my autograph; that it would mean something to them,’” Fennell said—that was evidence of his humility.
“One of the huge reasons God’s used Tim the way that He has, is because he had to be a young man of humility growing up which is a requirement for Christian leadership,” Fennell said.
FOX Sports interviewed various staff and church members at First Baptist Church in Starke in anticipation of running a special feature for a pre-game show before the BCS National Championship, talking about Tebow’s widespread influence, according to Fennell.