Fan or Follower?
January 8, 2023
We’re going to jump right into it. Today and for the next 4-5 weeks, we’re going to look at a book which has intrigued me. It’s not a book of the Bible. This series comes from a book by Kyle Idleman called - not a fan.
Basically, we’re gonna talk about whether we’re fans or followers of Jesus. That’s it. The hope is that this will help move us to a deeper place, a deeper, more profound and committed relationship with Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Imagine you’re sitting at a coffee shop, reading a book, or watching a youtube video. Your head’s down as you enjoy some quiet time. There’s an open seat across from you and some stranger walks in and sits down. You’re annoyed and as you look up, you realize that without a doubt, it’s Jesus. (I know, play this out with me.)
He’s just sitting there and it feels awkward, so you start to talk, and you know you’re babbling, but you sense you should be the one doing the talking. You tell Him how much you appreciate Him. You let Him know His miracles are pretty cool too. Then your food arrives. You normally don’t pray, but come on, Jesus is there. So you pray out loud . . . your nervous, and you say . . . Oh dear Lord, 3 things I pray, to see thee more clearly, to love thee more dearly, and to follow thee more nearly, day by day. Amen.
Jesus gives you a look, kind of a whatever look, and then Jesus starts talking. He doesn’t ask about your meal, or your off beat prayer, He gets right to the point - - - He asks, “who do you say that I am?” That’s it. Nothing more.
You know He knows what you’re thinking and going to say, so you’ve got to be real. It’s like the most real lie detector test you could ever take. What do you say?
Jesus wants you to define the relationship you have with Him. It’s kind of like dating someone for a period of time. Ultimately, we begin to define the relationship. Is it a casual thing, we see each other periodically, but can see others? Is it exclusive, you’re the one for me?
How would you define your level of commitment to Jesus? Is it a casual thing, weekends only, and that’s if something better doesn’t come up. Or maybe you’re still in that talking stage, trying to figure out if you want to take this to the next level? Or is it exclusive?
That’s kind of what we’re talking about for the next few weeks. It might not be so easy. I’m not sure where this is going to take us. One thing that struck me from reading this book was the fact that Idleman was often concerned with what people thought of him and his preaching, more so than what they thought of Jesus. And I need to tell you, most every preacher deals with those thoughts and the insecurity that comes with preaching.
So, this series is not about entertaining you, there may be no stupid jokes you don’t laugh at. And no silly videos. It’s straight talk about who Jesus is and most importantly who He is to you. It’s about how you define your relationship with Jesus.
So - - - are you a fan or a follower?
Jesus had lots of fans. When you read the Bible, people were always following Him, not so much because they believed in Him, but because of what He offered.
In John 6, the people were flocking to Jesus and He knows why. In 6:2, John tells us - - -
2 And a large crowd was following Him, because they saw the signs that He was doing on the sick. - John 6:2
They were there because they saw miracles being performed and they were intrigued. At this point, there were few followers, they were mostly fans.
Then Jesus fed the 5,000 from 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. The people stayed overnight and searched for Jesus the next morning, but He was on the other side of the sea, so they went there and Jesus told them - - -
26 “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. - John 6:26
Again, the people were filled by the food and they wanted more. They’re fans and weren’t concerned about their spirit, they didn’t get it. So, Jesus told them - - -
27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. - John 6:27
You see a fan is defined as an enthusiastic admirer. Isn’t that what we do when we go to a sporting event or a concert. How many times do we see fans all dressed up at football games. We see the craziness, the waiting in line, the tailgating, the passion that seems to come with being a fan.
Many of us won’t watch the Colts game today, or the Bears for that matter. WHY? Because they’re not good. Their pretty bad. So, as a fan, I don’t want to waste my time. I may have the game on, but I’ll be in another room. I’m more curious. But if they were good, if they were fighting for a playoff spot, then we’d watch and cheer them on.
That’s a fan.
But Jesus isn’t concerned with enthusiastic admirers. He’s concerned with having passionate followers. You see, when the going got tough, when Jesus said some difficult things that really pushed the people to define the relationship, to cross the line and follow Him, listen to what happened after hearing some tough statements -
60 When many of His disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
61 But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him.)
65 And He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
NOW CATCH THESE LAST 2 VERSES - - -
66 After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.
67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”
WOW! That’s brutal. Jesus knew some would walk with Him and some would not. He even offered the opportunity to the disciples to turn away and leave as well. Peter answered Jesus saying - - -
68 “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,
69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
Isn’t that a great question from Peter? Lord, to whom shall we go? In other words, Lord, we have nowhere to go, because there is no substitute for you. You are the One and we will follow you because we believe.
Jesus is pushing! He wants to know where we stand with Him. It’s really what He’s getting after in Luke 9:23 - when Jesus said - - -
23 If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. - Luke 9:23
That’s not always an easy thing to do, deny yourself and take up your cross ---daily! Following Jesus. It’s difficult! Nobody will deny that. It means we need to let go of some things and take up other things. It means we’ll make some decisions that aren’t popular, because we’re followers of Jesus.
And my concern is that we all have the potential to very easily become a stadium or church full of Jesus fans. And Jesus never cared about having fans. If you define a fan as an enthusiastic admirer, then fans weren’t important to Jesus. Yet, it can be very easy to fall into being a fan.
When I was growing up, we had season tickets to Chicago Bears games. I went to games for years. We’d take the train with other fans. When we walked in, we’d buy a program and we always sat in the same seats, by the same people. We got to know them a bit, made small talk, and most especially dissect the game as it went on. Then after the game, we’d get on the train with other fans, talking about the game.
We can get pretty comfortable doing the same in this stadium, we call church. We sit in pretty much the same seats, look at our programs called bulletins. We cheer and applaud, at least you don’t boo! Thanks for that! When it’s over, you rate the music, the ambiance, the sermon and then make a decision about coming back next week. We all kind of do.
So, it’s easy to become fans and remain fans. Thinking we’re committed, but not really committed. Being a fan feels pretty good because it’s comfortable.
We can feel pretty good about ourselves because we’re these great admirers of Christ. So if we’ll be honest with ourselves, if we’ll really search our hearts and begin to define our relationship with Jesus, it can get a little uncomfortable.
In his book Idleman wrote about a person who wanted to end their membership in the church because he didn’t like his sermons. Which was a strange reason, so Idleman called him. He said the guy stammered and stuttered because he was caught off guard and ended up saying . . . “your sermons interfere with my life.”
Idleman was relieved that was the answer. After all, that’s kind of our job. And that’s what Jesus is after, as well. It’s to interfere with our lives so that we make the changes we need to draw closer and experience His power and grace as we honor and glorify Him - - - and our lives look different because Jesus.
One of the things I was told when I graduated seminary and was popular in leadership books was --- don’t talk to the people about the C word -- commitment.
That’s a nasty word. But I’ve never believed that because I really do believe we want to be committed to something. Whether it’s Jesus or a cause or a belief, we want commitment. I want my kids to be committed, I want Debbie to be committed and she expects that of me as well.
And Jesus wants us to be committed. Fans aren’t always committed. That’s why there’s ‘fair-weathered-fans.’ Even though I’m a Bears fan, to be honest, I want them to play well enough to lose, so they get a better draft pick. After all, when you’ve lost 9 games in a row, what’s number 10. That’s not a good fan!
Being a follower of Jesus requires commitment. A follower of Jesus will do whatever it takes to follow Him. You’re absolutely loyal, completely committed.
We tend to be selective with our commitment. We want to pick and choose the areas . . . .
So you say, “I’ll follow Jesus, but don’t ask me to forgive the person that hurt me. They don’t deserve that.” And, “I’ll follow Jesus, but don’t talk to me about my money. I work hard for that money.” “I’ll follow Jesus but don’t tell me to stop those Internet searches.” OR “They make me take these stupid classes, so if I need to cheat, I’ll cheat.”
So it’s this customized Christianity that says, ‘I’ll follow Jesus, but only where I’m comfortable, only in the areas I agree with. I’m a Christian, but I’m not all in.’
You know what I mean? So, does that make you a fan? Or a follower? There’s not an option for selective commitment. There’s no bargaining, bartering, no finagling. When you decide to become a follower of Christ, you’ve got to go all in. Jesus really doesn’t want fence-sitters. He doesn’t like lukewarm.
And fans, they don’t like the idea of going all in. They’re not wild about having to make sacrifices, or about having to deny themselves of something they want.
So, let me end with this. Maybe you’ve been in church forever. But you’ve never made faith your own. But you’ve been coming so long, that it feels normal and natural. You know the stories, you know most songs. It feels good.
But it can be really easy to become a fan. Debbie knows there’s one style of music I really don’t care for . . . country music. Don’t kick me out. But sometimes on a long drive, she’ll have that on the radio, and because I’m a nice guy I don’t change the station.
After awhile, I will admit, some songs grow on me. Now, I don’t think I’ll be a follower of country music, but it’s almost possible that I can be a fan. I don’t hate it, sometimes - - - it’s not so bad.
That can happen to us in church. We become fans of Jesus. But that can be dangerous. I want faith in Jesus to be your own. Not your spouses and not your parents. I want you to be able to figure it out.
Jesus wants a relationship with you. So, that’s the question . . . are you a fan or a follower! Search your heart this week. And let’s dive in deeper and move closer to Jesus and who He calls us to be.
