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The Story: Seemingly out of nowhere, New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin has sent shockwaves through the sports world after mounting a series of stellar performances against some of the NBA’s top talent. The league’s first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, the undrafted Lin, 23, is an evangelical Christian whom some have dubbed “the Taiwanese Tebow.”

The Background: A little more than two years ago, Lin was a senior point guard at Harvard. “He’s a special player who seems to have a special passion for the game,” one opposing coach said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the NBA one day.” Despite such optimism, however, the two-time All-Ivy League selection’s name wasn’t called in the 2010 NBA Draft. Though the Golden State Warriors eventually picked him up as a free agent, he warmed the bench for most of the 2010-11 season.

A little more than two months ago, Lin was cut from the Warriors and then from the Houston Rockets before finally being picked up by the Knicks. A little more than two weeks ago, Lin was reinstated to the Knicks’ bench after being demoted to their D-League squad for a game. And now, following a flurry of spectacular games, the once unwanted guard is more likely to be caught on Sportscenter than on the bench.

Why It Matters: Amid the excitement of Lin’s sudden rise to stardom, we give thanks that Lin is a devoted follower of King Jesus. Indeed, it appears that Lin has long been unashamed of his faith (see, for example, this March 2010 interview [Part 1Part 2]). He has even expressed interest in returning to pastor a church near his San Francisco Bay Area home. In another interview from around the same time, Lin said:

I think one of the most rewarding experiences in life is to see people come to Christ and make lifestyle changes. When that happens, you definitely see God behind it. . . . I’m really thankful that God is changing somebody, or sometimes he’s changing me. To see that transformation brings me a lot of satisfaction and fulfillment. I definitely want to do something in ministry down the road, maybe as a pastor if that’s where God leads.

Many will also be encouraged to learn that two of Lin’s favorite Christian books are John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life and C.J. Mahaney’s Humility: True Greatness.

Let’s be careful, though, not to invest our ultimate hope in Lin. Like Tebow’s triumphs on the gridiron, Lin’s success on the hardwood won’t last forever. Worldly hype is an ultimately shallow and short-lived thing anyway. Finally, and perhaps most vitally, let’s pray for our brother, that he’d faithfully steward his newfound platform by tirelessly deflecting praise to the only One whose glory never fades.

Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?

In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.
But the Gospels are historically reliable. And the evidence for this is vast.
To learn about the evidence for the historical reliability of the four Gospels, click below to access a FREE eBook of Can We Trust the Gospels? written by New Testament scholar Peter J. Williams.

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