A fan is an enthusiastic admirer or a passionate devotee of someone or something. There are fan clubs for movie stars and singers and sport teams. Fans claim to know what the media puts out there about the person they may have met from a distance or likely never met, yet they don’t know that person. Pastor Keith Hassell said, “A fan can love the team and still not be on the team. He can wear the T-shirt and have thorough knowledge of the game and the players involved. He can feel like he is part of the game while never being involved on the field. He can empathize with the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat…. A fan can look like the real thing but he is not the real thing; can hang around the game without personal sacrifice…” Fans can be fickle; they are with and cheer you when you are winning and can jump teams and boo when you’re losing. At one time they stand in respectful tribute and the next moment they disappear. They can walk out, boycott or stay home any time, because they have nothing a stake; they are only fans” Pastor Harris, Colin said, “A fan does not join the team or even take up the sport. He is simply observer and enjoys the game or contest as an experience of entertainment.”
Pastor Hassell also said, “Followers are disciplined participants, learners and disciples. A follower has stepped out of the grandstands onto the field. He has traded in his T-shirt for a uniform. He has submitted himself to intensive training of the coach and knows that every training is necessary and good. He is accountable to the team and …pays the price in time, talents and treasures (3-T’s). He is committed to the team and committed to the win. He sacrifices his personal comfort and lays aside his independence to be part of something bigger than he is. A Follower is the real thing” A follower puts that one person or thing above everything else. The disciples left their families and their work to follow Christ Jesus and they put Him first above all else. In Luke 9: 23, Jesus explains it thus, “If anyone would come after Me he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” Followers deny themselves, take up the cross and follow with no string attached.
The state of Churches today is troubling; we gather together as a stadium of fan instead of a possibly community of followers. We wear a cross but we don’t bear it. We go to Church , raise “holy hands” in worship, own three or four bibles and fetch films and books from noble authors, sit at fellowship meals, Sing in the Choir and have stickers on our cars that reads, “following Jesus” as well as have all the worship songs on your phone ring, but these don’t make you a follower. There only shows you belong to a religious subculture. The Church seems like dying and filled with consumers of religious services rather than disciples of Jesus. They seem like spectators at a religious event on Sunday like in Luke 14 and John 6 instead of participants in God’s kingdom. Choosing to be a follower of Jesus Christ takes more than just verbal affirmation. It takes daily sacrifice and commitment. Jesus teaches the crowd in Luke 9: 23-24, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from selfish desires and ways, take up your cross daily and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” Jesus was never impressed by the size of the crowd; it was their commitment that He cared about.
The man who introduced the idea of Fan and Follower, Kyle Idleman in his provocative book, Not a Fan, said, in a large part, we confuse knowing about Jesus with knowing Jesus. Many Christians know a lot about Jesus, talk about Him but have no idea who is the real Jesus. There is wide difference between knowledge and intimacy. One may read books and listen to messages about Jesus but does not have any relationship with Him. It is the relationship (deep rooted not convenience) that produces intimacy. Fans are comfortable with a two hour every Sunday worship and just making some minor changes in their lives but Jesus is interested in total surrender – upside down. Fans want a little touch up work here and there but Jesus wants completed renovation. Fans come to Jesus intending a tune up but Jesus wants overhaul. We want a little make up but Jesus demands a makeover. We think of a little decoration but Jesus wants a complete remodeling. As a matter of fact a follower allows Jesus to interfere with his/her life because in it the follower finds real life. Idleman wrote, “Jesus didn’t come to this earth so that you would be better behaved or to tweak your personality or fine-tune your manners or smooth out your rough spots; He wants total transformation. The purpose of the gospel was to turn our lives upside down. Jesus did not come to change me but came to kill me. When I quit fighting for the controls of my life and surrender everything to Him – then I die to self and live for Him, then I find life worth living. Little wonder, when Jesus calls a man He bids him come and die – Dietrich Bonheoffer in a book: The Cost of Discipleship.
Jesus explained the cost of following Him in Luke 9. Verses 57-58 illustrate that following Christ will cost your comfort. We are by nature comfort seekers. Yes, I want to follow Jesus but my best TV program comes on the same time we have Sunday worship or Mid-week Bible Study. I want to follow Jesus but cannot pick and choose the teaching of Jesus I am going to adhere to – love your enemies, love your neighbors as you love yourself, even if you don’t like him; release resentment and bitterness and forgives whoever offends you. Verses 59-60 we want to follow Jesus but first want to go and bury my father. Also verse 61-62 says I first want to go and say good bye to my family. (Luke 14:25-27; 18:22). Jesus must be your priority; one and only and wants your whole heart and total devotion. True Jesus’ followers must: Allow Jesus’ desire for your life as prime, take up the cross daily and lose yourself to save yourself. Little surprised Apostle Paul says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20). ARE YOU A FAN OR FOLLOWER?