So, in our Men’s Group on Saturday Mornings, we are reading a book called “not a fan.” The beginning question is “Are you a follower of Jesus?”
Of course, as a Christian, we just continue reading because this is such a basic question and it is so obvious what the answer is. But if you really stop and think, it is not a rhetorical question . . .
The answer to the question isn’t automatically “Yes” just because we go to church, or our grandparents are Christians, or we raised our hand at the end of a sermon one time. It isn’t automatically “Yes” if we repeated a prayer after a preacher or sunday school teacher once, or if we walked forward during a 12 minute version of “Just As I Am”, or we own more than one Bible or have a Strongs Concordance in our house . . .
You need to stop and think. You need to Define The Relationship. Are you just a fan? A fan in it’s most basic definition in the dictionary is “An enthusiastic admirer”. Are you an enthusiastic admirer of Jesus? Kind of like the football fan, they seem to live eat and breathe the game and their team. They seem extremely devoted, but they are never in the game. They are a football fan, or even a fan of a specific team, but they may only last a few losing seasons prior to jumping off the fan wagon and maybe picking another team or sport to get “enthusiastic” about.
This first chapter made me really think . . . Am I really a follower of Christ, or am I just a fan? I guess I need to be sure that I’m “In the Game” in order to be sure I”m a follower.
I don’t think being “In the Game” means I have to go into full time ministry, but I do think it’s time for me to really look at what I’m doing to further the Kingdom of Christ. I need to be in the game all the time. I know that I’ll fail at times, but God can help me to continue to grow. That what this is, a Continuous Improvement Process, just like we have at work. We always set our safety goals at zero, though it isn’t possible that we will go forever with no mistakes and not get someone hurt, even if it is just a stitch in a finger or something. But we do set the goal. We go for the gold, not just the minimum. Am I going for the gold in my spiritual walk? We love the Lord with all our heart, all our mind and with all our soul. So am I doing this? I look at my income, and have to decide, am I going for the gold in giving to God? Have I set my goal of giving back to God at the minimum tithe, or have I gone beyond and said, let’s try for 80%? I realize that at this point, I probably can’t do 80%, but I can sure begin to incrementally improve from where I am and continue to grow the amount I give back to God. After all, it’s His anyway, right? At least if I really believe and am a FOLLOWER and not just a FAN . . .
This will be an interesting study. We’ll see where it takes us.