Fan or Follower? What are we doing? How much longer are we going to play at this thing called Christianity? We prayed the prayer. We got baptized. We’re good. Is that all there is? Why did Jesus say that one day many would come to Him saying, “Lord, Lord!”, and yet He will send them away because He never knew them (Matthew 7:21-23)? Are we missing something? Surely we know and are blessed by God; how else could we be so content and living such comfortable lives? We have been lulled into a false security and our very lives hang in the balance. Week after week I attend services in churches that are filled with professing believers who never venture beyond being a fan of Jesus and onto being His follower. Kyle Idleman wrote an excellent book in which he explored this phenomenon (check out “Not a Fan”). Fans of Jesus are content to believe and then get on with their lives. Followers spend the rest of their lives devoted to Jesus and seeking how to know and serve Him better. A fan of Jesus knows the commands of Jesus, while a follower carries them out. The classic parable of “The Sheep and the Goats” could easily be retitled as the parable of “The Followers and the Fans” (Matthew 25:31-46). Fans possess a passive faith while followers demonstrate a faith that is active. Too many Christians go to church each Sunday and attend Bible studies during the week while never dedicating themselves to the very one they are presumably worshipping. Jesus doesn’t care about appearances; He’s interested in active participants in His mission. Until our lives are dedicated to God in every area and in every hour, we still have work to do. Following Jesus is a life long journey. It never ends until we see Him face to face. But we can never stop the pursuit. He beckons us to follow and to do anything else is to disobey. Jesus said that in order to follow Him we had to let go of everything in our life and trust it all to Him. You can’t follow Jesus while holding on to pieces of your past. Following is all or nothing. It’s radical and it’s expensive. It’s not about surrendering some, but rather surrendering all. Serving Jesus twelve hours a day isn’t enough. That would mean wasting half your life doing things for someone other than Christ. There’s no more time to keep playing church, to continue keeping up appearances. The call of Jesus is clear: leave everything behind, love and serve others unconditionally, and make disciples all along the way. How much time are you letting slip through your fingers? What portion of your life is spent on things that do not glorify God? When you accepted Jesus, you promised your life to Him. Are you living out that commitment? The world doesn’t need more fans of Jesus, it needs more followers. Satan loves fans. Jesus vomits them out of His mouth (Revelation 3:15-16). Are you a fan or a follower? The decision is yours. Time is running out. not a fan. promotional video: youtube/watch?v=8mQkO8R-aW4 The Not a Fan Movie, A Followers Story notafan/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=26 H2O Episode 3: youtu.be/YHSj3cJ1h8w
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 17:13:35 +0000
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