Fan Or Follower Of Jesus? Series

Fan or Follower

Luke 9:23, John 3

January 15, 2023

We’re in the second week of our series called Fan or Follower. It’s based on the book called NOT A FAN, by Kyle Idelman.

Very simply, I’m asking the question, are you a fan or a follower of Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Are you an enthusiastic admirer or a devoted follower? How do you define your relationship with Jesus?

Recently I was helping Joshua look for new car insurance. He needs to have Texas car insurance. And I have to tell you Texas is bigger and more expensive. So, as we searched we found some companies that had great insurance for only $50 per month and it was for anyone. But when we looked at it, it was bare boned insurance. It really wasn’t for anyone, because there were a lot of caveats. You had to read the small print to know if you really were eligible.

Have you ever experienced that with something? Maybe you walked into a store that advertised a certain product at an unbelievable price, and of course they were out of stock. Or that deal only applied to certain people. Or it only occurred when Mars was lined up with Neptune and Mercury.

It seems like there’s always a catch. Not everything is open and available to anyone and everyone. That’s why they say IF IT’S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, THEN IT IS!!

It’s interesting that in Luke 9:23, Jesus stated - - - -

23 If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. - Luke 9:23

It’s a hard invitation, because Jesus doesn’t want fans or crazed admirers. He wants followers. When He made the invitation, Jesus invited anyone and everyone. There’s no strings attached.

But we’re in a pretty cynical world. We were talking about that at Bible Study this week. We tend to doubt the offer. We believe there must be strings attached. It’s really not open to anyone, because if you really knew me, then, I wouldn’t be accepted in the kingdom.

Yet, there’s no catch. There’s no small print, no hidden fees. Jesus lays it out there for all of us. Salvation is open to “anyone.” And when Jesus said “anyone,” the crowds would have looked at His disciples and known that He meant it.

In Jesus’ day, rabbi’s were held in very high esteem by the Jewish people. And since they didn’t have books to read, everything was studied and memorized. The rabbis knew the OT. They knew the first 5 books by memory.

Rabbis also had a group of “talmids.” The word talmid means a disciple or student. This would be an exclusive group of students.

If you wanted to be a talmid, you had to go through an application process. You had to conquer the prerequisites before being considered to become a talmid.

They would be quizzed to recite a book of the Bible, or an entire chapter. What’s chapter 6 from Numbers or Leviticus? This was an intense process.

You see, the excellence of the student reflected the excellence of the teacher. If a rabbi’s group of talmid were especially brilliant, the rabbi would be more respected and admired.

Let me tell you how revered the rabbi was in this relationship. According to the Talmud, a student or talmid, was obligated to honor the rabbi over their parents. It was written: “One must recover a lost object belonging to his teacher ahead of that of his father: whereas his father brought him into this world, his teacher, who has instructed him in wisdom, brings him to the World to Come.”

So when word gets out about a new rabbi who's picking out followers seemingly at random, people started to wonder what’s going on. They heard amazing words from Jesus, but then they looked at His talmid, and must have been confused. There were fisherman, nobodies and even a tax collector!”

But look at Jesus. He didn’t turn people away. He didn’t give you a Bible IQ test. He made the offer anyone who wanted to walk with Him, was invited.

So Jesus does away with the qualifications to be His follower. He got rid of the long list of prerequisites; He did away with the standard application process. He opened the door for all people to come to Him and find life. Look at all the people Jesus healed, the people He touched, even the dead. He totally changed who was able to come to Him.

What’s cool in what Jesus did, is the fact that in getting rid of all the qualifications, He got rid of all of our excuses. Remember, we’re talking about being a fan or a follower of Jesus. Fans have lots of excuses. Followers don’t get those excuses.