If you’re a Christian, you probably consider yourself a fan of Jesus. I mean why wouldn’t you? You live for Jesus in your daily life, how are you not a fan? That’s what I thought too until I read Kyle Idleman’s book, "not a fan."
In "not a fan," Idleman defines what a fan is: an enthusiastic admirer. He says that an enthusiastic admirer is a devoted supporter of Jesus. Just like a devoted sports fan, you always cheer your team on, you are always on the sidelines yelling for your team to win. In Christian terms, it’s the equivalent of going to church every weekend and having a Jesus fish on your car. Don’t get me wrong, do those things. Proudly support Jesus and show him off. Idleman encourages the reader to go beyond that, however, to ‘define the relationship’ with Jesus. Yes, you go to church every Sunday, but what happens when you leave? Do you put the Bible on the shelf until next week, or do you take what you learned and use that throughout the week.
Idleman distinguishes what it means to be a fan compared to a follower. A fan supports Jesus, calls them self a Christian and may even have a Jesus fish on their car. The truth is, a fan may know a lot about Jesus, but the question Kyle leads towards is, “do you know Jesus”? In Luke 14 Jesus calls on a crowd to hate their family, their kids, and wife, even themselves. What? Jesus wants me to do what? Yes, to follow Him that’s what he wants from you. You don’t need to kick out your family, rather in comparison to the love you have for Jesus, that’s what it should look like. Now if Jesus just wanted a bunch of fans he would’ve said something like, “we’re throwing a big party, bring all your friends and whoever brings the most gets a free miracle.” Wouldn’t that be nice?
Unfortunately and fortunately, Jesus calls us for more. He wants all of us, all the time. And that’s no short order, it’s not something you can wake up and just start doing. I struggle every day to be a committed follower of Jesus, and often I fall short. It’s a full-time job, everything you do, it must be for Jesus. Yes, I love Jesus and I call myself a Christian, but can I confidently say I am a true follower? I don’t think that’s a question I’m ready to answer yet. I encourage you to ask that question for yourself, really dig in and you may be surprised with the answers you get.
Whether you consider yourself a follower or not, or if you are like me and still trying to figure it out, I highly recommend Kyle Idleman’s book, "not a fan." You can find it here.
