Tim Tebow drops out of paid Christian event after being accused of using high-pressure sales pushing courses up to $40K

Tim Tebow has spent years building a reputation as one of America's most trusted Christian celebrities, including through anti-trafficking work, orphan care and faith-driven philanthropy.

On September 25, he announced he was pausing that relationship with Life Surge, a Christian touring conference company he'd been headlining across the country, after a joint investigation by Mother Jones and the podcast "Pablo Torre Finds Out" alleged the company used high-pressure sales tactics to push attendees toward investment courses costing up to $40,000.

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"I think the allegations are extremely serious and it's something that we take very serious," Tebow told ESPN, according to Mother Jones . "We are having our team do an investigation but also pausing our relationship until we can learn more about the facts."

Life.Church pastor Craig Groeschel and Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla have since followed Tebow in cutting ties, according to Religion News Service.

Life Surge events are marketed as one-day Christian conferences — about $20 gets attendees a day of celebrity speakers, worship music and financial inspiration. But according to Mother Jones reporter Kiera Butler , who attended a Life Surge event in suburban Atlanta, the day is structured as an extended sales pipeline.

Attendees are offered a three-day "impact class" on stock market and real estate investing for $97. Those who take that class are then pitched a more expensive program called SurgeU — investment courses that range from roughly $10,000 to $40,000, according to the Mother Jones investigation . A third-party lender was available on-site for those who couldn't pay upfront.

The investigation found that current and former Life Surge employees confirmed the pattern: staffers sometimes oversold the ease of the program and invoked Christian messaging to persuade attendees to buy expensive packages. One former attendee told Mother Jones that a Life Surge counselor told her "the devil was responsible for her doubts about buying the courses."

Attendees who spoke to Mother Jones described taking out home equity loans and high-interest credit cards to pay for the courses after sales staff encouraged them to borrow. One couple paid $20,000 for courses, borrowed another $40,000 on credit cards, made no money in the stock market and ultimately took out a home equity loan to pay off credit card debt that had ballooned to a 29% variable interest rate.