By now, we're all familiar with the Power of Tebow: the guy whose faith and belief is so compelling that it tends to rub off on others. What adds to the Tebow Mystique is the way his level of belief somehow correlates to his uncanny ability to lead the way to victory. (Well, at least for a six-week stretch this past Fall.) Suddenly, his teammates were taking to their knees in the locker room, the coach was thanking God post-game, and even Broncos legend and current VP John Elway started dropping "God" references. Tebow is a warrior-leader whose mix of personal faith and penchant for victory lead to a revival of sorts in his fellow warriors.
But before Tebow there was Clovis, King of the Francs in the late 5th and early 6th century.
Though Clovis, and his fellow Francs were pagans, his wife, "imported" from Burgundy, was a devout Christian. She persistently argued that the "Christian God" was more powerful than the pagan gods, citing the wealth and victory of the "Christian lands" as evidence.
In a difficult war with the Alemanni, Clovis prayed to the God of his wife:
"Jesus Christ...you are said to give aid to those who are laboring and to bestow victory on those hoping in you....I beg the glory of your help so that if you will grant me victory over these enemies...then I will believe in you and will be baptized in your name. I have called upon my own gods, but, as I learn, they are far away from my aid. Hence I believe that they are endowed with no power, since they do not come to assistance of those who obey them. I now call on you. I want to believe in you, if only I am snatched from my enemies."
Clovis and his warriors prevailed. His instruction in faith, under the tutelage of Bishop Remigius of Reims, took place in secret since his warriors had yet to abandon their gods. But then, at a meeting with his warriors-- like a medieval locker room speech-- Clovis won them over, with more than 3000 agreeing to be baptized with their king!
To Tebow's credit, he's never come close to a prayer like Clovis', but the improbable victories that have followed his public faith may have led a few spiritual stragglers to renew their faith, or perhaps to convert altogether! Conflicted feelings should accompany such stories and it should raise a lot more questions (Does God care who wins wars and football games? Will God answer prayers from people who treat him like an idol or a vending machine? Should we rejoice in a conversion even if it was driven by what a person could "get out of God"?). But whatever our take on this "Tebow Thing," the one thing we cannot say is that it's never happened before. It's as old as god and war.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: This account of Clovis's conversion is pulled from a summary in "The Medieval Church: A Brief History", by Joseph H. Lynch, history professor at Ohio State University. I'm reading the book for a class at Fuller Theological Seminary on Medieval Church history...See: seminary's not irrelevant! :) ]
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