The messianic nonsense around Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is only ever going to grow if he keeps pulling off miracles like going from being down against Miami with a score of 15-0, and less than three minutes to play in the 4^th quarter, to winning the football game. And lo, he said unto his teammates in the huddle, if you believe in me, we shall be blessed to recover an onside kick, convert for two points to tie the game, strip-sack Matt Moore, and kick a game-winning field goal of over 50 yards after missing two such kicks from shorter out.

That’s more or less exactly how it happened, in fact: ESPN Magazine’s recent cover story on Tebow reports that Tebow’s first words to his teammates after being inserted into the game at halftime in the team’s previous matchup against San Diego were actually, “Believe in me, guys.” If you watched even the edited version of his post-game press conference after the absurdly unlikely comeback against the Dolphins yesterday, and you took a drink after every time Tebow referenced the need to “believe,” or described the team as “blessed,” you’d owe the bartender for six shots after two minutes of Tebow-speak.

All of which is to say: Tim Tebow doesn’t exactly do much to dispel the messianic mythologizing that people are so keen to place on him. If it’s not leading the Broncos to the sort of victory that could, without much hyperbole, be described as a miraculous resurrection, it’s using evangelical language to describe why his team was able to win against the (0-6) Miami Dolphins.

If the Broncos were blessed, does that mean God hates the Dolphins?

Every time a columnist takes shots at Tebow for bringing religion into the game, it fuels his role in the Great American Culture War. Let Timmy preach, his supporters call, and look to the jabs made at him for wearing his faith on his sleeve as proof that those on the other side of the cultural divide don’t want to see an evangelical quarterback succeed. Once that happens, then every criticism of his play is viewed through that same Culture War lens: is your beef really with Tebow’s throwing motion, or is it with the fact that he’s unapologetic about bringing faith into what he does? Are you actually concerned about the 55 minutes of frankly terrible quarterback play that he exhibited for the vast majority of the Miami game (4 completions for 39 yards in the game with just over 5:00 on the clock in the 4^th quarter), or do you just worship Satan?

It’s weird that this is even a thing, of course. Christians are successful in all walks of American life, and that includes football. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a player in the league (except maybe Stevie Johnson) who didn’t at least pay some lip service to the glory of God. Michael Vick speaks openly about the role of his faith and religion in his life and his success, but Christians seem a lot less eager to embrace him than they do Tebow. And there are a couple of reasons for that, of course. Yeah, the dogfighting conviction makes people – even ones whose religion is based on the notion of forgiveness – loathe to identify too closely with the guy. But that’s not all that there is at work here. Vick is also a much better quarterback.

What does that have to do with anything?

Here’s the thing: for years, Christians who buy into the Culture War nonsense – often the ones whose fundraising campaigns or ratings are boosted by them, curiously enough – like to present themselves as a persecuted group. It’s not exactly an easy claim to make: 76% of Americans, and 84% of Congress, identify as Christian. Most of the anti-Christian bias that proponents of the idea that 76% of the country (and even more of its leaders) make up a persecuted, oppressed group claim exists is nebulous – some asshole like me writing this column, for example. The rest tends to take umbrage at things like The War On Christmas, in which retailers persecute Christians by acknowledging that there are Americans who don’t celebrate Christmas and run ads that say things like “happy holidays” instead; or maybe the portrayal of gay people as human beings capable of finding love, raising families, and otherwise living fulfilling lives. In the eyes of a Culture Warrior, the fact that a group which dominates a nation is occasionally made to acknowledge the existence of the Americans who don’t share their beliefs is oppression.

And then there’s Tim Tebow. By all accounts, Tebow’s a good kid, and fun to watch on the football field. He’s also a starting quarterback who managed to complete four (4) passes in 55 minutes of play against the worst team in the NFL, and an evangelical who taped a Super Bowl commercial for the controversial Christian public policy organization Focus On The Family. In other words, for a group that—despite existing as the mainstream majority of America, wants to see itself as the underdog – he’s a perfect vessel. He’s loudly and proudly a member of their side of the Culture War, and he’s actually in the minority, if the majority is “professional starting quarterbacks in the NFL who would probably be able to complete more than 4 passes in 55 minutes against the 2011 Dolphins.”

And then, after all of that, the guy actually comes back and manages to win the game? Followed by a press conference where he cites blessings and belief as the reason for the comeback six times in two minutes? As a stand-in for Christians who want to see themselves as oppressed, he validates their view by being terrible; then he offers further validation by somehow winning anyway, and talks about the win in evangelical language. If you’re a group of Culture Warriors looking for a figurehead, is Tim Tebow the messiah?

If you hate the Culture War nonsense, but love exciting football, it makes for a dilemma: Tebow’s fun to watch, but it’d be okay if he cooled it with the miracles and let things settle down.