Not A Fan: Are You A Fan Or A Follower? Series

Imagine how absurd that would be. You don’t even have to know my wife to know that her reaction would be jealous anger. As soon as I walked in the door from my date I should fear for my life. If She heard about me eating at McDonalds with a man who kind of looked like a woman she would be jealous – and the Bible describes God as jealous God. He doesn’t want our one-day a week affection. He wants your whole heart.

Jesus explains that following him in not something you do part-time or half-way. Jesus says, it’s all or nothing. There is a young man in our church who dedicated himself to following the upside down way of Jesus a few years ago. Like many of us his before and after story is pretty dramatic. A relationship with Jesus has changed everything for him. Before following Jesus his life consisted in his words of, going out, drinking, smoking pot and chasing girls. He’d show up to work with a hang over more often than not. He was full of anger and didn’t know why. He felt like he was running in circle with no purpose. And was just kind of going through life aimlessly. But Jesus has brought a radical change his life. You spend a few minutes with him and it’s easy to see the joy that he has found in Christ. He is constantly at church, serving whenever way he can. He’s a single dad with plenty of financial struggles – but when he became a Christian he decided that he would no longer work during church times, even though he needed the hours and he would tithe even though things were tight. Not long ago he asked if I could meet his mom…I said sure. The three of us sat down for coffee in café 920. I knew she went to a different church in town and I assumed that she wanted to meet with me at least in part to compliment Southeast for the difference that she had seen her son. But that wasn’t the case. She was upset with me and the church, because in her words, “my son has take all of this too far.” She was not pleased with how much time he was spending at the church…and how he always wanted to pray when they had family meals…and how he was always trying to tell them about the sermon…and she was upset that he was giving some of his hard earned money. And here’s what she said to me “Can you please tell him that the Bible teaches ‘everything in moderation’?” She said “He’s taken this too far and he needs to understand that that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.”

I tried to keep a pleasant smile – but my teeth were clinched, and my breath was short, I could feel my eyebrows narrowing and saw my nostrils flair. I was angry and defensive of my friend. I so did what I always do when I get angry…I started quoting scripture from Revelation. In Revelation 3 Jesus says to the church in Laodicia “You are neither hot or cold but because you are lukewarm – I’m about to spit you out of my mouth.” Jesus doesn’t say, “Everything in moderation” he says you can’t be my follower if you don’t give up everything.