Not A Fan

Not A Fan - Luke 9.23

Well, it’s football season. And if one thing is certain in football season, it’s the fans. Fans who crowd stadiums around the country by the tens of thousands, if not millions, on Friday nights, Saturdays, and Sundays. Fans who wear the jerseys of their favorite team player. Fans who beg, cry, plead, yell, and go hoarse rooting for their team. Fans who dress up, tailgate, stand in long lines, and dedicate themselves to the sport.

One thing that I find funny is that sometimes we refer to our team as “we.” For example, “Well, if we don’t run the ball better we’re not gonna win any games.” or “We’re in trouble with our offensive line this year.” We talk as if we know the players personally. We talk as if we work for the team. We talk as if we’re ON the team.

But we’re not. We don’t run through grueling practices. We don’t sweat and bleed even sometimes like the players do. We don’t deal with locker room squabbles or coaches yelling in our ears.

We sit in the stands. We sit at home on a comfy couch and watch our team on television. We’re FANS, but we’re not the ones actually out there playing.

What if we were?

You see, the difference between a fan and a follower is evident, even in relation to sports.

Jesus had many fans. Fans that followed him around and hung on his every word and maybe even cried at his miracles. Fans that were bold for him like Peter and said they would never allow harm to come to him. Fans that admired him like no other person.

But those fans all abandoned him. Where were his fans when Jesus faced the Sanhedrin, the Jewish court, at 2AM? Where were his fans and suporters when he was beaten, carted back and forth between Pilate and Herod to decide his fate?

Even some of the people closest to Jesus learned an important lesson the night he was tried and convicted. His apostles learned what it truly meant to be a follower, and not just a fan.

Peter may have learned the hardest lesson of all, but he would be vindicated later by Jesus. After he denied him three times - the very definition of a fan crumbling in hard times - he was somewhat redeemed by Jesus after his resurrection. He tells Peter to feed his sheep - to take care of the flock - three times. At the end of this discussion, in John 21.19, he simply says, “Follow me.”

So what does it mean to be a true follower in Christ and not just a fan? What does it mean, and if we’re just fans, how do we become true followers?

Tonight there are 3 short points I want to share with you about becoming more than just a fan - to becoming a true follower of Jesus.

#1. DTR - Define The Relationship

In any relationship, whether it’s between a parent and a teen, brother and sister, husband and wife - those two people must, at one point, define that relationship and what it means to each party.

In the fall of 2004, I sat with a young woman on the steps of Loyd Auditorium at Freed-Hardeman University and asked her that question that really no guy wants to have to ask - “Where do you see this relationship going?”

We were friends. We’d been hanging out, we’d met during my freshman year there. We had hit it off and I was super-interested in her. (This is what I call the period in my life much like BC and AD, I call this period BB: Before Bonnie). When I brought this up, I surely thought she would jump on it, and say enthusiastically “Chad, I’ve been waiting for this! Yes! I’d love to go out with you!”

Instead, her response, while smiling, was “You know, I kinda like where we’re at.”

Meaning: she had defined the relationship as she wanted: it needed to stay right like it was.

Had I not had that conversation, I had never would have known. I was just that clueless. I thought we were progressing in our feelings for one another, but in fact, we were regressing in her mind. This was just the beginning in a long journey of me not knowing what women are thinking.

But after that DTR conversation, I could say one thing - we both knew where we stood with one another. There was nothing unsaid, nothing secret anymore. Nothing was in question.

What if you had the DTR conversation with Jesus?

Turn to Luke 9.18. Let’s read Luke 9, beginning in verse 18, and let’s read to verse 24.

This is Jesus having the DTR conversation with his disciples. This is Jesus defining the relationship that his followers, his disciples, are saying who he is.

This is an important conversation too. Three out the four gospels record this. The other accounts are in Matthew 16 and Mark 8.

Jesus makes his followers define what the relationship here is. How would you answer this question? How would define what it really means to be a Christian, which literally means follower of Christ?

You see, a fan of Jesus is someone who is just an enthusiastic admirer. A follower is completely committed to Jesus. A fan runs little risk with cheering on his team. A follower realizes that they must give up everything for their team - or, Christ in this context.

Scripture is very clear that Jesus is looking for followers - not fans.

When I was getting ready as a high school senior to join the Marine Corps, I would look at the posters in the recruiting office, and I can tell you, I was genuinely worried. There was an older poster of a Drill Instructions literally inches from an 18 year-old’s face with his mouth wide open and you could tell he was yelling. At the bottom of the poster it said, “We don’t promise you a rose garden.”

Another poster had a recruit struggling to get over an obstacle, and he’s gripping, sweating, and looks like his in excruciating pain. At the bottom it said, “We never said earning the title of Marine would be easy.”

If you look at scripture, Jesus never sweet-talks anyone to keep them around. He shoots very straight with people in every instance. Jesus didn’t beat around the bush or step around the issue - rather Jesus points out the cost of following him incredibly often. He says that we must give up everything - our friends, our homes, our families, our careers, our hobbies, our sports - to follow him.

Every believer must take a long, hard look at what Jesus has to say and define whether he or she is a fan or a follower.

#2. Knowledge vs. Intimacy

Knowledge can take you a long way. But when we’re talking about being a follower of Jesus, intimacy in a relationship with him can take you farther.

At times, fans can be quite extraordinary. I was always amazed to talk sports with Tyler Cole. Anybody who knows him knows that he’s a tremendous sports fan. He has teams, players, and stats memorized. It’s not because he intentionally does it, it’s because it’s something he enjoys immensely.

Big fans memorize stats. The collect memorabilia. They know the ins and outs of every player. Fans can express a lot of this enthusiasm, but that doesn’t mean that they have a relationship with the team.

Believers, likewise, sometimes miss the distinction - but there’s a difference between knowing Jesus, and having intimacy with Jesus. To have a real relationship, information just isn’t enough. Even fans will admit this. There’s nothing quite like going to a real football game, and interacting with fans and being in that atmosphere.

We can know the Bible, we can know all about the scriptures and we can know what the Bible says about certain topics, but do we really know Jesus?

In Matthew 23.13-39, Jesus puts the Pharisees in their place. This is one of the famous “Woe to you” passages. Jesus is really letting them have it. The Pharisees had one big problem that Jesus was pointing out - they thought they “knew” God by the things they were doing, when in fact they had no real connection to Him at all.

We suffer with this as well sometimes. Kyle Idelman, the author of the book “Not A Fan” tells the story of a father who was raising a daughter and said, “We raised her in church, we just didn’t raise her in Christ.” The daughter had been exposed to Jesus, but she didn’t KNOW Him. We all run the risk of mistaking this when we think the church activities we participate in are in direct correlation with our growth in Christ. It’s part of it, yes, but not all. The difference comes down to whether or not we have an intimate relationship with our Savior.

Once again, we must take a good, earnest look at ourselves and see where we stand in our relationship Jesus. Do we actually know him or do we just know ABOUT him?

#3. One and Only

Although fans ooze enthusiasm, spend money, and dedicate time to their team, there is actually little cost to being a fan.

There’s a skit that Lonnie Jones does called “The Cross Shop.” It’s about a contrary old man who owns a cross shop. Every kind of crossed thing you could want.

One day a man comes in and asks for a Christian Cross. The old man gives it to him and tells him the price is whatever he has.

The man looks in his wallet and says, “Well, I have 20 dollars.”

“We’ll take it,” the shop owner says. The man turns to leave an pulls his keys out of his pocket.

“Excuse me, sir?” the old man pipes up and asks. “Are those car keys?”

The man answers yes, and the shop owner proceeds to tell him, he says look, that Cross costs everything you have, including your possessions. Hand it over.

The man, of course, says, “No way.” He can’t leave with the Cross, he has to give it back.

A second man comes in looking for the same Christian cross. He’s got a friend with him. They go through the same ordeal, the man gives him all the money he has and goes to leave when the shop owner says, “Excuse me, who is that you have with you?”

“Oh. Well, this is my friend.”

The shop owner explains that to take the cross, he must leave his friend. The man is, of course, unwilling to leave his friend and leaves empty-handed.

Finally a third man comes in. He explains he’s been looking for a Christian Cross for a long time. He gives up everything, the money he has, his wallet, his car keys, the keys to his workplace, even his keys to his home - and after the old shop owner points out his wife and little girl - he still says he can give it all up to be able to take the cross.

The shop owner almost lets the man leave when he says, “Excuse me! Are you really going to just leave all this stuff behind to take that cross with you?”

The man says, “Yeah, this is what I’ve been looking for. And I’ll sacrifice everything I have to get it.”

The old man explains that, well, the point has been made. He says, “You know, it’s a lot easier to get around if you have a car. You’re going to need that to help and care for people and bring them to worship. You’re also going to need some money so you can provide for your family. You’re going to need to use your talents at work that God has given you to make that money and influence people for Christ in your workplace. You’re going to need a home - a home for your family and a home to receive people into to help them or to show them the love of Christ. Last but not least, you’re going to need a supportive wife by your side to help you on the journey to carry that cross. You’ll need to teach that daughter of yours to carry that cross as well.”

You see, the cost for carrying our cross is just what Jesus says it is in Luke 9.23, to DENY ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him.

Christ must be our one and only. He must be at the top of our list - strike that - he must be the only thing on our list. Do you, tonight, truly believe if you gave everything to God then He would take care of you?

Followers, not fans, are asked to sacrifice everything to follow Jesus.

We cannot figuratively take up our cross while at the same time holding a bag full of bad friends, relationships, temptations, regrets, sadness, and most of all, sin. We just can’t do it.

A true Christian is a follower, not a fan.

Tonight, if you’ve struggled with defining that relationship with Christ, define it tonight. Come forward, let us pray for you to set your life back on the right path, or if you haven’t become a Christian, put Christ on in baptism tonight. Perhaps you’ve been like the Pharisees and knew God, but you really didn’t have an intimate relationship with Him. You can make that change tonight. And maybe you’ve let things get in the way of serving God to where He’s not your one and only anymore. Set things right tonight. Make Jesus THE priority.

If you have any spiritual needs tonight, come forward while we stand and sing.