A Follower Or A Fan?

For those not familiar with and Anglican Service; there are four Scripture readings prior to the Message. The assigned readings for today are Joshua 24:14-25, Psalm 16, Ephesians 5:21-33 and John 6:53-69.

A man named Charlie Moore ... moved with his family ... into a new community.

He wanted to make some new friends, ... so he decided ... to join the local softball league.

For the opening game of the season ... Charlie brought along the whole family, ... so they all could meet some of the other players and their families.

When Charlie got up to bat, ... He set his feet, squared his shoulders... and as the ball came across the plate, ... well ... he missed it by a mile.

The crowd groaned.

But one voice could be heard over the den of people: ...... "You can do it, Mr. Moore!"

The second pitch came ... and again he swung wildly and missed, ... the crowd groaned even louder ... yet again the voice could be heard. "You can do it Mr. Moore!"

The third pitch ... he swung again, and the voice cried: "That's OK Mr. Moore you will do better next time!"

Well that day ... Charlie struck out ... every time he went to bat.

When the game was over, ... the family got into their car, ... and as they made their way down the road, ... the dad turned to his son and said:

"Was that you that yelled out ... 'You can do it Mr. Moore'?"

When his son admitted that it was indeed his voice ...the dad said he appreciated his son's encouragement, ... but he wondered ", Why did you call me Mr. Moore?"

"Well," the boy said, ... "I didn't want anyone to know ... I was related to you. " (Long Pause)

[ Illustration from a Sermon by Jeff Strite titled "Are you a follower or a fan"]

Beloved are you part of the family ... are you a "Follower of Christ" ... Or are you ... a mere ... "Fan."

Fans will regularly attend the weekly worship service ... the weekly event ... good fans do that ... you know.

Yet if they are honest ... they really do not do much for Jesus ... or for the Kingdom ... outside of attending ... that weekly event.

Why? Because ... they have other ... more important ... priorities.

Fans are happy to show up ... and shout out encouragement ... at the weekly service.

Yet ... the rest of the week ... they really do not act ... as if they are related ... to the one ... they proclaim as their Lord and their Savior.

A good Fan ... just shows up ... for the weekly event.

And they will stay a Fan ... as long as ... it benefits them.

Fans often ... get easily offended ... when they do not get their own way ... when things are not meeting ... their expectations.

Have you ever been disappointed?

Of course, ... you have.

We all have ... at times.

But have you thought about ... have you pondered why ... you were disappointed?

Maybe someone did not do ... what you thought they ... would do.

Or maybe, ... things did not turn out ... the way you expected ... (Point to head) Or ... imagined ... in your mind.

In either case, ... you were disappointed ... because you had a different expectation ... than that ...which actually happened or occurred.

Now we all have expectations, ... we all have expectations of other people, ... especially those ...we are in relationship with.

And that is normal.

Yet at times ... we each need to examine ... our expectations.

If not, ... we may find ourselves ... disappointed ... more often ... than not.

For often times ... we may have ... unrealistic expectations.

For example, ... if I have an expectation ... that my wife Lee will cook a 4-course meal every night.

And she expects ... that I will take her out to eat every night.

Well ...we are both going to be ... very disappointed.

Not because ... either expectation ...is right or wrong, ...but because we each have a different vision ... of each other.

A different image ... of what we expect ... in our relationship ...with each other.

Now these expectations ... can inadvertently ...create false images ... of the person ... we are in a relationship with.

When that person ... does not act in accordance with our image.

If that person does not act ... in accordance ... with the expectations ... that we have established ... in our minds, ... it can have ... bad consequences.

We see friendships ruined, ... divorces take place, ... all because ... the person we have created ... in our mind ... was not that same person ... in real life.