When it comes to Jesus are you a fan or a follower? Now you may be wondering why I’d ask a question like that. We’re all followers of Jesus, right? Think with me a second. The word fan is defined as “an enthusiastic admirer.” We’re all fans of different things, right? Many of us are sports fans. We watch the games. We cheer on the team. Some of us own the jerseys of our favorite players. (How many of you were looking for Tim Tebow #15 jerseys this Christmas?)
We understand the concept of being a sports fan. The concern is that the church has the potential to become a stadium full of fans of Jesus. We come together once a week as fans of Jesus. We sit in our seats open up our programs. We applaud at certain times and leave somehow thinking that, as the fans, it was all done for us. We get in the car and we evaluate the sermon, and we kind of give the service and song selection a thumbs up or thumbs down. And we come back and do it again the next week. Being a fan feels pretty good. We feel pretty good about ourselves because we are great admirers of Jesus, but Jesus never cared about fans.
Beginning February 26th and leading up to Easter we are going to ask the question “What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?” I will be preaching a series of sermons on this theme and you will have the opportunity to be part of a small group study where we will dig into the scriptures to understand what it means to be a follower of Jesus. You may also order a Followers Journal for daily study which is designed to help you understand your role as a part of Jesus team. I hope you will participate as we endeavor to become not just fans but fully committed followers of Jesus.
Faithfully following,
Pastor Buddy
