A Denver Bronco’s fan has caused quite a stir in the sports world over a photo in which he appears to be wearing Tim Tebow’s number 15 jersey, but, where Tebow’s name would usually be, the shirt instead reads “Jesus.”

The “Jesus Jersey,” as it’s come to be known, has drawn sharp criticism from some sports bloggers. (View the controversial “Jesus Jersey” at SportsPickle.com.)

“Weed against Speed,” a pseudonym for a blogger from the Sportress of Blogitude website, sarcastically writes that it’s a “total surprise” that a Tebow fan would create a custom jersey like that.

“And if you ask me, maybe a bit sacrilegious,” the blogger writes. “But hey, I’m no theologian, so what does my opinion matter?”

Rodger Oswald, founder and president of Church Sports International (CSI), told The Christian Post that it’s no surprise the photo is stirring up controversy.

“There’s no doubt there are some who are going to see this as frivolous, that they’re taking the sacred name of Jesus and attaching it to a mere football jersey. So there are some that are going to be offended,” he said.

Oswald started CSI in 1992 to help churches and ministries utilize sports as a medium for sharing the Gospel.

He doesn’t see a problem with the jersey, though. For Oswald, crossing the line is “when people inappropriately take scripture out of context to support the theory that God is a defender of a particular team or athlete.”

He also says that “secular media” has a problem with the jersey because they see players like Tebow as athletes first, and Christians second.

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