Feb 5, 2010
The Real Issues at Stake with the Tim Tebow Commercial
The debate about the Tim Tebow commercial set to air during the Super Bowl has been completely off base if you ask me. Boo hoo, the Super Bowl has an advertisement for something that may be vaguely political instead of beer bottles with helmets, women being sexually harassed by men, and retro hippie commercials with new soda cans.
I think I’ll get over that.
The Tebow story is a very inspiring and good story. It’s a story that should be shared. I’m glad that Tebow and his mother are sharing it. However, the way it’s been done reveals something very troubling about the priorities of Christians, how we deal with problems in our society, and how Christians today think of allocating resources.
I’m not going to argue against abortion being a serious issue for us to deal with today. There are poor pregnant women who can’t afford to support a child and then there are wealthy women who don’t want to have a child, and we need to talk about real solutions that will help women who may feel like they don’t have many options at this time in their lives while saving the unborn. Yes, we should stop abortion.
Sadly, the Tim Tebow commercial reveals that Christians are making several key oversights when it comes to saving lives today.
Our Priorities
The Super Bowl commercial is generally aimed at affluent Americans, though perhaps some poor folks may be watching as well. However, by and large, if you figure out the demographics that most advertisers are aiming for, you can guess that the Tebow commercial aims to convince middle to upper middle class voters (those relatively well off) that they should not have abortions or support legislation that permits abortion.
Whether this is an intended oversight or not, the message is particularly striking at a time when charities such as World Vision are in an all-out struggle to save lives down in Haiti. In addition, by tossing so much money at a particular demographic, the poor are not made into the kind of priority spoken of in passages such as Luke 4:18-21 or Matthew 11:2-6. Success in the Kingdom of God is synonymous with declaring the Good News to and ministering among the poor.
Ministry in Society
This ad also shows that overall Christians have chosen to speak to our culture on a large platform in an impersonal and hands off manner. Rather than taking the personally costly road of directly helping the women considering an abortion, it’s much easier to write a check, let someone preach the message, and then throw our hands up in despair when no one listens.
The ministry of Jesus was incarnational and costly. In Philippians 2 Paul speaks of Jesus who emptied himself and took on the form of a servant. A Super Bowl commercial is a big platform that does not require us to empty anything other than a bank account.
Allocating Our Resources
Lastly, the Tebow commercial brings up a matter of stewardship. The organizers of this commercial no doubt wanted to save lives, and for that I commend them. However, is this the best we can do with the resources at hand?
Three million dollars were tossed into an ad campaign that will most likely only harden support either for or against abortion without changing many minds or saving many lives. We can debate that, but hear me out: there are children in Haiti who need basic food and water to survive, tribes in Africa who needs wells, and malnourished children all over the world who could benefit greatly by a three million dollar investment.
If we only want to talk about ending abortion, then I’d ask whether this money would be better spent by creating medical clinics for financially struggling mothers. There are a lot of clinics I know of who would love a little bit of that money to purchase an ultrasound machine or to add a few doctors to their staff. Since health care in America isn’t quite as important as funding a war to drop bombs on terrorists hanging out in caves, I think that’s the least we could do.
A bunch of right-wing Christians opening medical clinics so that the poor can have health care may just shock enough “godless liberals” with our love and generosity that they’ll want to find out about Jesus for themselves.
Grace on Game Day
I want to make clear that I’m not necessarily mad at Tebow or Focus on the Family. I’m sad. This is a terrible opportunity to waste. It’s sad to think that three million dollars could be spent for the sake of thirty seconds of air time while there are so many pressing problems among the poor in America, Haiti, and around the world.
I’m also sad that there isn’t a more robust debate about the message of Jesus and it relates to the way we allocate our resources. Instead, we hear about whether we should be tolerant or intolerant of the political end of this message. To be frank, I don’t care about that in the least.
The Tebow commercial reveals that we have some priorities out of line, and I don’t give myself a free pass on this by any means. It’s a constant struggle to keep my priorities in line. As we watch the Tebow commercial I suggest we stop to think about how we use our resources, how we minister to others, and how we can strive to imitate the costly, personal ministry of Christ.
I think your focus on how we allocate our resources is a worthy subject. While I disagree that the Tebow Super Bowl commercial constitutes a waste of resources, your larger point about how we prioritize those resources is very worthwhile.
Too many Christians or Christian ministries are influenced by the values of society at large–not necessary moral values, but values of medium and message (where and how to dialogue with the world at large). When we consistently engage the culture on basis of celebrity and wealth we validate celebrity and wealth as “how to get things done.” It’s telling that MillerCoors Corp. is yielding Super Bowl advertising time to four small businesses in recognition of the value of “service and authenticity” the guy next door. It’s almost like loving your neighbor.
I think it’s terribly pretentious to presume to lecture another ministry on how they use their resources. Who are you to judge another man’s servant?
On the rest of it I agree. Our focus in the abortion issue needs to be in the trenches, not in the political sphere. It’s in the trenches, holding scared hands, giving good counsel, giving shelter and food if need be, that we can touch individual lives with the love of Christ and make a real difference.
Justin, I see your point on telling someone else how to use their resources. I understand that blogs provide an imperfect medium for these kinds of discussions and by even taking my stance I run the risk of sounding like a self-righteous hipster who thinks he knows it all…
Who am I to to judge them? I hope I haven’t judged them. At least, I’m trying not to judge them. I’m trying to raise questions, to point out broader systemic problems that we as Christians in America face. I’m certainly saddened, but I’m not as interested “judging” as I am in creating some discussion and debate about how we think about allocating our resources as Christians. How could I not?
It’s uncomfortable to have this discussion and I regret that it risks offending people, but I believe this is something we need to talk about. I share the same desire as this group to see abortion ended and to see women supported in giving birth, so I don’t think it’s too unreasonable to ask whether we could do something better with the 3 million.
I appreciate the tone of the debate here and I always welcome words of correction. However, I would suggest that I’m not trying to put a stumbling block in front of everyone (a la the judging spoken of in Romans 14). I’m asking for some discussion and reexamining of what has become a pretty standard way of doing things among Evangelicals. I could be wrong about that and I welcome your reply.
Blessings!
Ed, I agree with what you have written, especially as it relates to where we, as a church, focus our resources, our time and money. In Jesus’ ministry, unless I am mistaken, he did not bring one word of judgment against non-believers and “sinners”. He did not work towards stronger legislation against prostitution. Rather, he invited them to dinner and healed their diseases. He did not advocate against tax collectors as greedy, money-grabbing heathens (which they were!), but invited them to follow him, with no reference to what they had been doing.
Rather than fighting with the pagan culture around them, demanding tolerance and acceptance, the lifestyle that Jesus, and the early church, left for us to follow is one of self-sacrificial love that brings glory to God. We do not see much of that from the church in America today.
Ed,
I edited quite a while before I posted my last, and I know it was a little blunt. I considered messaging you in a more private way, but it’s a public forum and you seem prepared for a lively debate.
I stand by my principle. As Christians we guided by strong ethic and moral guidelines. We take this on after salvation as a form of worship to God, and as a way of building the Kingdom of God in our lives. It is fairly cut and dry that this is mostly between you and the Holy Spirit. The subject of how to approach a brother that you believe to be in error is a little more cloudy. It gets even worse when the perceived error is in the area of ministry or message.
It seems like we can have this discussion of what we may feel is a more appropriate response to the tragedy of abortion with less polemics and more pure ideas. Even without considering the Romans 14 issue, ideas are often better received when there is nothing or little attached to trigger a defense mechanism.
I for one am glad that this commercial is being aired in this time slot. I agree that some of the goals attached may be weak, but it is once again stirring a discussion of these issues in the public sphere. A discussion that bodes well for “our side” because there isn’t anything inherently offensive about the ad at all.
I hope that it is the harbinger of a softening of position from anti-abortion to pro-life. I think the world understands pro-life and is afraid of anti-abortion.