In 1987 a Southern Baptist missionary working in the Philippines prayed
3. COURAGE TO BE DIFFERENT
In 1987 a Southern Baptist missionary working in the Philippines prayed for a son who would become a preacher. As is so often the case, God answered the prayer, though not perhaps in the way it would be expected. While his wife was pregnant, she was given medications that caused a severe placental abruption. Doctors expected a stillbirth and recommended an abortion, which the parents declined. When he was born, they named the child Timothy Richard, the first name after the apostle Paul's famous assistant. Eventually, however, the world would come to learn the young man's name as simply Tim: Tim Tebow. Today, as for much of the past decade, people have strong feelings about Tebow – either loving him or hating him – but there is no doubt that in actions and in words he has proclaimed the word of God in ways that have sometimes far outreached the effectiveness of even many great preachers.
The young Tebow played football and played it well. While at the University of Florida, he set records and won the celebrated Heisman Trophy. Selected by the Denver Broncos in the first round of the 2010 National Football League draft, Tebow led them to their first significant victories in a number of years. But Tim also began to acknowledge his Christian faith in unprecedented ways. Becoming famous for dropping to a knee on the football field to pray after touchdowns, he became a cultural phenomenon, and his style of praying became known as "Tebowing." Many attacked him for this open display of his beliefs, though it is interesting that many of those who attacked him now warmly support the players who have recently taken to kneeling before games to reject the national anthem and to make political statements.
Tebow also caused a stir by thanking God for his team's successes in post-game news interviews and by writing scripture references such as John 3:16 in his football cheekbone black – references that were seen and discussed by millions of football fans and TV viewers. This too was widely attacked as a "Christian antic," though it is doubtless true that millions more people now know what John 3:16 says than would have otherwise. The attacks on Tebow were relentless, however, and he was eventually traded to a lesser position in another team and left football to pursue a minor league baseball career with the New York Mets from 2016 to 2021. During his entire career, Tebow has continued to use his name recognition to preach the word in many ways. He started a charitable
foundation and has co-written several books about his life and career in which he frequently speaks of Jesus Christ and the good that comes from living for him.
While his on-field actions remain vigorously disputed, there is no doubt that Tim Tebow dared to be different. Even when he experienced widespread anger and rejection for his display of his Christian faith, he courageously continued, and we can learn much from him. Tim stands some six feet four inches tall and is an imposing figure but he is known for his humility. While he has been criticized for "pushing his faith on people," those who know Tim know that he is always polite and uses his gift for preaching Christ naturally, in context, and without sounding "preachy." He also uses the pulpit of his life carefully – speaking more about what he is for than what he is against.
Perhaps you or I may not be as comfortable acting in ways that make us stand out from the crowd as much as Tim Tebow has gladly and continually done. But even if we do not feel led to stand out to such a degree, Tim's life challenges us to ask ourselves "Do we need to be different as believers?" and if so, "To what degree do we have the courage to stand out from the world around us?" These are questions all Christians should ask themselves.
Being Different in the Old Testament If we read the stories of the Old Testament carefully, we see that almost all the leading figures of the Hebrew Bible were individuals who stood out and were different from those around them. We need only read the stories of Noah, Lot, Abraham, Daniel, and others to see that precisely because these people were willing to be different, they were chosen and used by God. But it is often hard to relate our own situations to those of biblical heroes who may seem more full of faith and almost larger than life to us. Though we need not think that way, it is sometimes helpful to look instead at "ordinary" people more like ourselves. To do this, we need only look at the nation of ancient Israel.
When God called Israel out of slavery in Egypt he told them "you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his treasured possession" (Deuteronomy 14:2). Notice the people of Israel were to be "holy to …God" because they were called "out of all the peoples." That meant they were to be separate and different. The King James Bible translates the
latter part of this verse as "to be a peculiar people." Although "treasured possession" is a better translation, the underlying Hebrew does connote a people who were to be "special," "unique," "set apart," or "different."
The people of Israel were called to become a nation separate from the world around them – not just in living in their own separate territory, but also separate in being different from the rest of the world. The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were called to dress, eat, work, rest, speak and even think differently – to live in ways that would make them separate and thus signify that they were God's people who represented God's ways to others (Deuteronomy 4:5–8). Sadly, the Old and New Testaments show that the Israelites repeatedly failed in this calling (Psalm 78:10–11; Romans 2:17–24), but the Bible also gives some wonderfully encouraging examples of when they succeeded.
Being Different in the New Testament When we turn to the New Testament, we find the same emphasis on those who were willing to be different being called and used by God. Jesus himself continually exemplified the willingness to be different in the area of religion – which was central to Jewish culture of the time. Jesus called a different type of disciple from those chosen by the established teachers of his day. That is why we read that even the followers of John the Baptist asked Jesus "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?" (Matthew 9:14). "Why do you …" and "Why do your disciples …" are in fact the questions most frequently asked of Jesus. People could see that his and his disciples' actions and beliefs were different and challenged him regarding this fact continually.
Toward the end of his life, Jesus stressed the importance of being called out of the world, of being different, to his disciples: "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you" (John 15:19). In saying this, Jesus showed that being different often comes with a price, but we should keep in mind, of course, the infinitely greater value of being chosen to serve God's purposes.
The apostle Peter emphasized this fact when he wrote: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). It is interesting to note that in saying we are to be a "holy nation," the Greek root of the word Peter used
for "holy" is the same as the root word for being different or set apart. What Peter wrote about being a chosen people and a holy nation, is, of course, exactly what was said by God to ancient Israel (Exodus 19:6). But under the New Testament every Christian has the opportunity to be part of a holy nation of people that God is forming – a kingdom of those who are not afraid to be different.
Being Different Today As we have seen, throughout the Bible we find God desiring to work in and through those who are willing to be set apart even when this comes at a price. This is where the courage to be different comes into play. But we are called to be different from other people in a positive and influencing manner. Although we are never called to be separated from the people of the world, we are directly called to be separated from their sin. This means separating ourselves from drugs, from the misuse of alcohol, from cheating, lying, stealing, and every other way in which God's way of life is regularly rejected. This often takes courage – not only courage to stand up to those who chose wrong and who make themselves our enemies, but also, sometimes, courage to stand up to our friends: "Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer [do the] wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you" (1 Peter 4:4 NLT). And being truly different is not just about what we do not do. There is a kind of lack of courage that tells only the truths that are safe to tell. Martin Luther (someone whose religious courage changed the world) addressed this problem in one of his letters:
… it does not help that one of you would say: "I will gladly confess Christ and His Word on every detail, except that I may keep silent about one or two things which [some] may not tolerate … For whoever denies Christ in one detail or word has denied the same Christ… in all the details. (Translated from Martin Luther's Werke : kritische Gesamtausgabe [Weimarer Ausgabe] : [3. Band] Briefwechsel.) If not doing certain things, or if speaking about things others do not want to hear draws attention to us, then we are being the kind of light to the world that we are called to be. King David understood this when he wrote: "I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips,
LORD, as you know. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly" (Psalm 40:9-10).
And we must never be ashamed of our faith for any reason. Jesus himself made this clear: "Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels" (Luke 9:26).
But this does not mean that we should go to the other extreme and take an "in your face" approach to being different either, "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control" (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV). Reading the gospel accounts and paying attention to how Jesus spoke to others can be a great help in this regard. Jesus was unafraid to speak out firmly, yet with tact, consideration, and kindness. We may never be as skilled at this as Jesus was, but we can and must follow him in having the courage to be different.
The early disciples knew and lived by this fact. When Peter and John were taken before the religious authorities of their day – because they stood out among the Jews, because they were different – we are told that the Jewish leaders were shocked: "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13). The authorities were not swayed by the disciples' preaching – but they saw their courage and realized what its source was. Courage itself can be a witness to our faith.
Fortunately, we do not need to worry about how to develop this kind of courage to be different. We certainly can practice such acts of courage in small ways and build up as we go along. But if we are living and walking with God, he will give it to us as needed if we ask him. Just as Jesus promised his followers regarding difficult situations: "do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say" (Matthew 10:19), so the same is true about our need for courage. We see this in something that the Old Testament priest Ezra wrote: "Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me, I took courage …" (Ezra 7:28). That is also why the apostle Paul could tell the Philippians: "I eagerly expect … that I will … have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death" (Philippians 1:20). The courage to be different from this world is not something we must produce without help. We must simply be willing to let God give it to us and to use it when it is needed!