"I WILL FOLLOW YOU BUT............"

"Are you a FAN or a FOLLOWER of Jesus?" Recently, this question was put in front of a group of Christians during a Bible study I was part of. I guess I had never really given something like that much thought but during this study session was challenged to consider it. The leader of this discussion wanted all of us to give some serious thought to whether we are truly "walking with Jesus" or just going through the motions of a spiritual life that mindlessly repeats a traditional past.
When you really think about it, Jesus didn't come here to create some kind of "holy fan club", he never seemed to care whether people liked him or not. He wasn't into the 'how to win friends and influence people' type of leadership. He simply pointed men to the Father and made God known in a 'knowable' way.
Reading Luke 9 is a sort of summary about being Jesus' disciple. Unlike the Rabbis of his day, Jesus didn't just call the 'best of the best' to follow him, he invited ANYONE to be his disciple. But, he said to those of us who have that desire, "he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23
During the class session I mentioned above, our discussion leader posed three additional questions that get to the heart of the matter: (1) Why am I a Christian? (2) Am I all in? (3) Have I made it my own? We spent considerable time in this discussion group because when viewed in the light of Jesus' expectations, most of us probably fail to take our 'Christianity' that seriously.
I think there is a sense in which a serious disciple is both a "fan" and a "follower" of Jesus. Maybe we begin that journey as a "fan", one who admires, likes, appreciates Jesus, but along the way we either see ourselves actually becoming more like him in our thinking and actions, or we step off that path and our spiritual life becomes like an unused muscle, paralyzed by fear or social pressure.
At the end of Luke 9, he tells us about three people Jesus called to follow him but they turned out to be more of a fan than a follower. "I will follow you, BUT...." is never acceptable. Jesus said so in no uncertain terms.
So, am I a "FAN" or a "FOLLOWER?" I am grateful to Charley Bazzell for challenging my faith and my heart to ask some hard questions. I definitely am a fan of Jesus and I'm always seeking to improve on being a follower.