Back in 2009 Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson shocked the world when he publicly acknowledged what Bills fans have known for years. God hates the Buffalo Bills.
After dropping a surefire touchdown and letting the Pittsburgh Steelers back into a game his team ultimately lost, Johnson took to twitter to challenge his creator. The same vengeful God who delivered four consecutive Super Bowl losses.
“I praise you 24/7!!! And this how you do me!!! You expect me to learn from this???How??? I’ll never forget this!! Ever!! Thx Tho.”
Many found Johnson’s tweet offensive. Not only had he failed to take accountability for his own error but he then doubled down, calling out our Heavenly Father on social media. Worse yet, he did so with excessive punctuation (interesting that he had to shorten “thanks” and “though” to stay twitter length yet he used 10 exclamation points!!!!).
Others shrugged it off as laughable to think God cares about the outcome of an NFL game.
I suspect the one who found it neither offensive nor laughable was God himself. Stevie’s not the first and he won’t be the last. The bible is littered with people challenging God, questioning why He does what He does. Jonah, Jacob, Jeremiah, and those are only the J’s!
The good news is that our Creator so wants a relationship with you that He’ll put up with your back talk, second guessing and bad attitude. Relationships are tough and the God of Abraham keeps it real.
The metaphor of God as our father has never fit more.
What do you think?
• Does God care about the outcome of NFL games?
If so, which does he despise more, the Bills or Vikings?
• Have you ever challenged God?
What do you think His reaction was?
• The final two words of Stevie’s tweet were “thx tho”. Why is this significant?
Raise Your Ebenezer 
I think this example raises a big topic for me when discussing the faith. What does it mean to give up control and put it in God’s hands? I struggle with that notion, especially if taken too literally. I believe we’re expected to do something with our talents and not just “leave it in God’s hands”. Otherwise, perhaps Stevie Johnson has a point in complaining to God?
Interesting take. So you are saying that sometimes you feel that believers use “the will of God” and giving it up to him as an excuse for inaction?
Giving up control to God is huge and a big topic. First how do you discern the will of God, secondly how do you act on it. Both monumental tasks.
God calls us to use our talents to glorify Him. So I don’t think inaction is an option. But it is easy to see the “will of God” used to justify some pretty terrible things in history. After all, allah called people to action on 9/11 (at least in their minds). And the God of Abraham called others to act in the aftermath.
I’d like to think that Stevie’s sign off “thx tho” showed a sliver of gratitude for all that God’s done for him. I would also hope that this outburst was from a guy who’s had a relationship with God for some time. I doubt an atheist would electronically shake his fists at the heavens for doing him wrong. You lash out most at the ones that matter most to you.
Or maybe he was thanking Tony H. Orlando or Tatum H. O’Neal were their middle initials “H.” They’re not.