I did a post on the whole thing over on Out of Ur. As evidenced by the comments section, I'm afraid some people might have missed my point. It sort of made me wonder if any of you missed my point in last week's roundup. So, just to be safe, let me clarify a few things.

It would be easy to assume that I'm opposed to Tim Tebow's witnessing effort. This couldn't be further from the truth. I suspect, though, that the confusion lies in my decision to briefly present caricatures (in the Ur post) of how I knew people were going to be reacting the morning of Friday, January 9, 2009, the day "John 3:16" was the most searched-for item on Google. I knew that the more triumphalistic (that may not be a word, but you get my point) among us were going to think this was a huge kingdom win, while the more cynical and snarky among us were going to think this didn't amount to much of anything. Though I offered caricatures, I don't think I'm wrong about my assessment of the responses. We all tend to fall into two camps on matters such as these. But since I chose a more playful, provocative presentation of that point - which wasn't even the point I ultimately wanted to make - I'm getting an avalanche of responses that say I must not be a fan of Tim Tebow or his actions.

In light of this, let me be clear about my feelings on what Tebow did - and then steer us to the more important issue I raised (and the whole point of my post, both here and on Ur). I actually don't have any strong feelings whatsoever about what Tim Tebow did. I just don't. Frankly, I've seen so many Christian athletes do so many things through the years that I've grown a little ho-hum about the whole thing. They have every right to shave Scriptures into their heads, Sharpie it on their sneakers, or smear it on their eye black. I, for one, don't really notice it all that much because it's been sort of played out. That's just my humble opinion. I wouldn't have been disappointed one iota if Tebow had or had not placed "John 3:16" under his eyes for the biggest game of his career, any more than I would have been disappointed one iota if Oklahoma's quarterback - who is also a Christian - had or had not placed "John 3:16" under his eyes for the biggest game of his career (he didn't, by the way). Because of ESPN, news articles leading up the game, and other commentators, I long knew both guys were great guys, dedicated Christians, and passionate about serving here and abroad for Christ. So, there you have it. If you'd like to discuss this particular item in the comments section, feel free. I certainly don't want to shut down any opportunity at conversation. Still, I would like to move on to my real point that I don't want to get lost in all of this - especially for us as preachers.

When I saw that "John 3:16" was the top item of the morning - and when I found out why - I wasn't happy or sad, or feeling triumphant or cynical. I was blown away. I do, in fact, think this is one of the more telling events as of late. This really exposes so much about the current state of things. A simple Scripture has exposed how Scripturally starved we are in America. We are more biblically illiterate than we ever thought or imagined. As I wrote in the Ur piece:

Before you think I'm an idiot, let me be clear that I know America is biblically illiterate. But have we reached a new low? It used to be that you could bank on people knowing at least a few biblical texts, and John 3:16 was one of them. It has, after all, been broadcast at pretty much every professional game long before Tebow smeared it on his face - often on poster boards, and usually by a guy wearing a rainbow wig. People saw it and thought, Yeah, yeah, yeah. 'For God so loved the world.' I get it. Now, was that a first down? But last night a good part of America saw the text and thought, What the heck does that mean?

I don't need a Barna survey to tell me we're in new territory here.

If stats are correct - that 80 percent of America has a working faith about God or Christ and things related - then it's a whole new ballgame (no pun intended) for us as believers (as preachers!) that thousands upon thousands of Americans (again, many of whom statistically would claim some kind of belief in God and Christ and things related) had to look up John 3:16 to even know what it says. One of the old saints of my alma mater used to say that if you're looking for the thesis statement - the big idea - of the Bible, look to John 3:16. It sums it all up. It gives meaning to what comes before and after it. It commissions us like nothing else. Well, if he's right, then that means most of America doesn't know it at all anymore.

As I point out in the Ur post, John 3:16 used to be one of the texts you could always count on, didn't it? But here's how far we've come:

• In the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, you could give a shout-out to John 3:16 and people would nod their heads and maybe even say, "Why yes! And how much more beautiful that text is in light of the verses that follow - in light of this being in a marvelous conversation with Nicodemus!"
  
• In the rest of the 60s, and on into the 70s, 80s, and 90s, you could quote the text and people would roll their eyes and say, "Yep. Heard that one. Get something new."
  
• In 2000 and beyond: "Huh?"
  

My point in all of this has been not that we've suddenly stumbled into biblical illiteracy. We long ago stumbled into that mess! What I want us to see - thanks to Tim Tebow, eye black, and thousands of Google hits - is that we've stumbled into a new level of biblical illiteracy.

You might think I'm being way too Charlie Brown about all of this, but I do think we are in a far bigger hole than we imagined. So, here's my question: what does this mean for those of us who preach? Before everything with Tebow, we already knew we couldn't assume anything about what people knew or didn't know about the Bible. Now we really can't assume. Does this change the way we preach? What we preach? The series we plan? What about Easter coming up? I've got lots of thoughts, but I'd rather hear from you. What have you done to overcome biblical illiteracy? What will you do now that there is pretty strong evidence that it's getting worse, not better?

And here's the other issue I think we ought to think about as preachers in light of this cultural "event": what does this mean for our preaching about witnessing? In my humble opinion - and you have every right to disagree - the whole John 3:16 thing at a ballgame has been played out. However, I must acknowledge that this time it actually worked. I wonder if there's something to be learned about witnessing here - something that can be passed along. Now, let me be very clear I'm not advocating that we rev back up the "3:16" engine from our pulpits. What Tebow did worked Thursday night, just like it worked back in the day when someone else first did it at a sporting event. We probably won't see this sort of thing happen again for a long while. And, after all, you and I aren't Tim Tebow (athletes whose faces will be splashed across the TVs of America). But still - perhaps this exposes our need to help people figure out playful (but appropriate) ways to engage others. Maybe we should be a little more mysterious, encouraging the people we are reaching out to, to do a little digging, to snoop around Scripture a bit, etc. Does that make sense? Perhaps all of this makes for a fun moment to talk witnessing with folks. Or, you could very well look at this cultural event and realize that it exposes that Tim Tebow had the success he had in his witness because we've reached a new low in our own! Maybe 3:16 actually worked because we've been doing a relatively lousy job as of late. I know that's a more negative tone - be careful with that one - but it's a valid issue to raise.

Fire away with your thoughts?

Brian Lowery is managing editor of PreachingToday.com.