You have to love this News Story from USA today. I read it on Paul Grabill’s blog. Seems that the University of Florida’s sports information director decided not to nominate Tim Tebow for the Playboy’s pre-season all-american team. If you don’t know Tim Tebow, last year he won the Heisman trophy…as a sophomore. But if you ask Tim, football is not at the center of his heart. Tim was raised by missionary parents. His dad runs an orphanage in the Philippines. Last year Tim went on mission trips to the Philippines and Thailand.

Florida’s sports information director Zack Higbee chose not to nominate Tebow because he knew his moral values conflicted with Playboy’s moral values. When told of the decision, Playboy’s sports editor Gary Cole downplayed the decision with this comment… “He probably wouldn’t have made our team anyway.” Sounds like sour grapes from Playboy…but what I really love is just a young man who is a Jesus-follower…who is willing to be different.

This is something that I’ve been thinking about as I’ve been doing my sabbatical reading — especially the book UnChristian (if you care at all about reaching the next generation, you have to read this book) — I’ve been thinking a very simply thought, “Shouldn’t Christ-followers be different? Not weird different — but loving different, living different, standing for a different set of life-values, good different.”

Here’s the USA Today article. Click here.