Fan or Follower!
February 12, 2023
In January of this year, Time Magazine ran a series of articles under the heading THE HAPPINESS REVIVAL GUIDE. I was hoping the articles would make me happy or even happier. They didn’t! I tried, but they failed.
One article was about a Yale University professor who has the most popular class in Yale’s history. Laurie Santos teaches a class called - Psychology and the Good Life. It’s about the psychology of happiness and how to get there. More than 1,000 students are enrolled in this class.
She also has a Happiness Lab podcast, which has been downloaded more than 90 million times since 2019. Americans are craving happiness. Statistically, in 2022, an American Psychological Association poll showed - - - fewer than 20% of Americans said they were very happy while more than 25% said they were too stressed to function.
We have a serious problem. 18 happiness experts suggested you can be happy by –
Having a sense of control and autonomy over your life, being guided by meaning and purpose, connecting with others, acknowledging negative emotions, rather than suppressing them.
Spending time with family and friends, pursuing hobbies, getting sufficient sleep, exercising or playing sports, enjoying nature, listening to music and reading - - were their suggestions.
I believe they’re missing the main ingredient. And interestingly enough, the main ingredient is not focused on your happiness. It’s not necessarily going to make you happier, but it will give you something better . . . Joy, meaning, purpose and hope!!
The subheading is interesting - - Instead of forcing that frown upside down, try the joy-building tips experts really use. But I don’t think they know what joy means.
One item lacking from their lists were a spiritual life. For me, that’s believing in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. As we finish our FAN or FOLLOWER series, it’s time to make that decision. This is the 6th week we’ve been talking about who we are called to be in Christ. Are you a fan, an enthusiastic admirer of Jesus, just like you might admire someone famous? Or are you a follower of Jesus? You’re committed! No matter the topic, your default is always Jesus.
Why are you alive? Jesus
Where do I find my purpose? Jesus
How do I find hope? Jesus
I’m blessed because of Jesus.
Jesus is the answer! I’m convinced of it, or I wouldn’t be here. So, the question for us today is simply this - - -
IS JESUS ENOUGH? Or do we need something more, OR something other than Jesus? Or Jesus + something?
When Jesus calls us to follow Him, He makes it very clear He doesn’t want fence sitters. He doesn’t want our decision to be arbitrary, depending upon if we’re feeling it, feeling happy; or it’s one of those tough days or weeks and we find something else to fill us.
When we started the series I spoke about Jesus talking to His disciples in John 6. And for a moment we’re going to look at this, a passage from Luke 14 and finally get into some philosophy and theology from the mid 1800's.
In John 6, Jesus fed about 15,000 people; and the next day the people were searching for Him. During the night Jesus crossed over to the other side of the sea.
By the time they caught up to Jesus they’re starving. They’ve missed breakfast and they’re ready to find out what’s on the lunch menu. But Jesus has shut down the all-you-can-eat buffet. So, Jesus tells 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.
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
And Jesus decides to have what Kyle Idleman calls a DEFINE THE RELATIONSHIP conversation. He knows these people aren’t going to all the trouble and sacrifice because they’re followers, but because they want the freebies. They’re fans! Great admirers of this teacher. How would they respond when the drive through window was closed?
In verse 35, Jesus offers Himself, but will that even be enough? He declared - - -
35 I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. - John 6:35
When there are no other options, that’s when you find out if Jesus is enough. There are plenty of stories I could tell you – a child becomes ill, parents get divorced, the addiction seems unbeatable, a future seems overwhelming, a relationship falls apart … a tragic death and something happens.
Suddenly having a little bit of religion isn’t enough. The spectacle, the fish and loaves, the Sunday service doesn’t cut it. And in those moments, when Jesus is the only thing left on the menu, they find out He’s exactly what they need. He becomes more than a guy with a nice message – He becomes the only hope.
So here in John 6, the crowd has to decide if Jesus is enough. It’s time to define their relationship with Him. Are they hanging around for the perks, or is it really about the relationship? Do you remember what happened? John tells us - - - -
66 From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. - John 6
How disheartening!! They were fans. Fair weathered fans. When the heat got turned up, they bailed. They were celebrating and cheering - - - now they’re walking away.
So, Jesus turned to the disciples and asked if they were fans or followers - - -
67 Do you want to go away as well? - John 6
What would His most devoted disciples do? Be fans who weren’t willing to stick around when the teaching got tough? Would they abandon Jesus, too? John tells us - - -
68 Simon Peter answered Jesus, “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.” - John 6
What Peter tells Jesus is great . . . Lord, we have nowhere to go, because there’s no substitute for you. You’re the One and we will follow you because we believe. You see, fans bail when times get tough. Have you ever been through a really tough time in your life . . . and it’s during those times you find out if your friends are really friends or just acquaintances, don’t you? And it can hurt!
When life gets too difficult. When we think He should give us what we wanted. When the teaching calls us to be more accountable than we want. There are so many reasons for us to walk away.
Even the words of Jesus . . . I mean they can be so difficult. Listen to what Jesus said in Luke 14 - - - -
25 Now great crowds accompanied Jesus, and He turned and said to them,
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. . . .
33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. - Luke 14
Let’s be real! This is brutal. I can imagine the scene . . . Jesus is walking, crowds are pushing in and gathering. They want more, but what they want isn’t what they need. They confused their needs from wants.
So, Jesus STOPS, TURNS and says . . . you need to hate your parents, hate your spouse and kids, hate your siblings and even hate life itself. If you can’t do that, you can’t be my disciple.
WOE! Who wants to sign up for discipleship classes after hearing that statement from Jesus? Now, Jesus is using a figure of speech. It’s a hyperbole. Jesus is exaggerating to make a point. He’s saying something which seems outlandish, to help us better understand!
He’s wants us to love all of these really important people BUT to love them less than we love Him. That’s His point. Love Jesus more than anything else in life.
Put away all of the idols you worship. Denounce them! Skip all of your reasons for not giving of your time and money. Skip all of your excuses for not praying and knowing His word. Whatever your idols, and we have them . . . according to Jesus, there’s no excuses. NONE!!
That really sounds so harsh! We’re asked to take up our cross, doing it daily, be willing to suffer for the kingdom. Be willing to do what’s right, even when others are not! Jesus is asking us to die to ourselves. When that happens . . . fans take off. And I don’t think they do that just because they prefer comfort.
Personally, I think a lot of people leave because of ignorance. They dabble in the faith, but they’re not fully certain Jesus is really the Christ, the Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
If they believed that, if they trusted and had the faith, then some of the difficult passages would be more bearable. They would trust that we can have the hope and power, grace and mercy, fellowship and love, and strength to overcome anything because of what God offers us . . . namely, Himself. It’s the gift of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Followers grasp that, they want it more than anything
They believe Jesus is more than the Good Fairy or Santa Claus. Or the great genie in the sky. Jesus is there no matter what we’re going through. He’s with us in the greatest moments and in the worst moments. He’s with us. That’s His constant, never ending promise! I will be with you forever!!
We wish we could have it all laid out for us. We wish God would hand us the book for what to do in our lives to find joy. We wish He’d speak audibly and give us an unmistakable sign that He’s alive.
But life’s not like that, is it? And it wasn’t like that for the disciples, either. Sure they were able to witness the miracles. But eventually, they had to choose to know and believe Jesus was the Messiah. Proclaiming Jesus is a choice we have to make, just like the disciples made.
In the end, it comes down to whether Jesus is enough. And it comes down to whether or not you’ll choose to move from being a fan to being a follower.
Someone gave me a copy of a page from a book they were reading, and it was intriguing, which sent me on a wild goose chase.
I ended up reading more about a Danish Philosopher and Theologian named Soren Kierkegaard. I’ve read some of his works, but never this. He wrote extensively in the 1840's-50's.
Kierkegaard wrote - - - Jesus' whole life on earth, from beginning to end, was destined solely to have followers and to make admirers impossible. (Provocations. . .)
Isn’t that great? Jesus wanted only followers and being an admirer was impossible. Author Rod Dreher expands on this idea - - -
"Admirers love being associated with Jesus, but when trouble comes, they either turn on Him or in some way try to put distance between themselves and the Lord. The admirer wants the comfort and advantage that comes with being a Christian, but when times change and Jesus becomes a scandal or worse, the admirer folds." (Dreher, Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents, p.190)
Again, Kierkegaard wrote - - - - The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe.
Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how he praises Christ, he renounces nothing, will not reconstruct his life, and will not let his life express what he supposedly admires.
Not so the follower. No, no. The follower aspires with all his strength to be what he admires.
And of course what the follower admires is the person of Jesus, the Christ. That’s what it all boils down to. I can give you countless examples and more Bible stories as well.
So, when we look back, this is what Jesus was talking about when He explained the cost of discipleship: if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
It doesn’t mean you stand on the corner and yell at people. It doesn’t mean you have to sell all of your possessions and go to the Ukraine. It doesn’t mean you have to give away all your savings and live in squalor.
But it does mean . . . you will be obedient to the One who gave His life for your life. It means you will do everything in your power - - - the Holy Spirit power to follow Jesus. It means you will love Him first. That way everyone you will love will be loved in a purer way because your love will flow from Jesus, who is sinless, as opposed to you and I, who are sinners. His love has no strings attached, ours often does.
So, how do we get there? In some ways, I think we over complicate it. We make it much more difficult than it needs to be. It means we draw nearer and nearer to Jesus.
The first step is to admit your need for Jesus. It’s becoming humble and admitting you can’t do it all on your own, even though you and I want to and want to believe that, it’s confessing Jesus is Lord and we’re not.
It’s making the proclamation that Jesus really is the Son of God, the Messiah. It’s asking for forgiveness of your sins, because you know you’re a sinner. It’s trusting that when God says He forgives and cleanses you . . . He really does!!
It’s beginning to know the Word of God, the Bible. If you need one, we’ll get you one. It’s praying or better yet, talking to God and listening to God.
It’s forming that relationship with Jesus I spoke about a few weeks ago. Remember the Hebrew word that means to know?
CAN ANYONE TELL ME THE WORD?
> > > > > > > > > PAUSE > > > > > > > >
????? - yada
It’s a really, really important word. YADA means “to know and to be completely known.” It’s this intimate connection on every level. To know and to be completely known. It’s about intimacy and vulnerability.
It’s God knowing us so completely because He created us, we’re made in His image. He knows us . . . but do we know Him? He wants to be known and the greatest way to do that is to ask Him to reveal Himself, to draw nearer and nearer to your God so that you could experience the fullness of His presence and grace.
That’s really it. Ultimately on this Super Bowl Sunday comes the final question and you only get one answer . . .
FAN or FOLLOWER?
There's no getting around this, nor do we want to.
As I was driving, I thought, ‘so what’s the purpose of this series?’ On the one hand, it’s to encourage us to say yes to Jesus as a follower. It’s to get off the fence and proclaim Him!
The other reason is that when you have Jesus, you can face anything that comes your way. Pain and suffering are not easy to endure. We do everything we can to avoid them, yet, no matter what we go through in life, we have the promise that Jesus is with us. He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us. So, God is with us, everyday, everywhere, 24 / 7. As a follower I now have the assurance of the power and presence of God wherever I go and whatever I do. That’s a gift.
In the end I can be content, I don’t have to fear, be in despair, and I can be strong and filled with courage because He promises to be with me . . . always!!
God offers us His amazing grace, the chains that have held us back can be broken if you are willing. Friends, be willing. Let go of the doubt and say YES to Jesus, move from fan to follower.
