Follower or fan?

That was a thought on one of the radio shows the other day.... Are you a Follower or a Fan?

and it got me to thinking of Facebook.... A "Fan" is someone who "Likes" a post from far away.... Not someone who shares your life with you...

Someone who hears a saying and says "Yes, I like that" or "Wow, that's deep"... Maybe thinks about it a little afterwards...

This takes us back to Ezekiel 33:32
"Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.

We love to be fans...

But... We don't think how being a fan is different from following or relying on the Lord in an active sense...

And.. being a fan is also very different from being a Friend.. there's no itimacy... There's not the assumption that the fan has something to offer that the star wants besides money, notoriety, a feeling of importance/glory...

But... Is that what Jesus is after? Notoriety, formality, glory, and no intimacy? For us to click the
"like" button whenever some scripture hits you...

Think of Luke 9:23... Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, [fn] and follow Me.
 
I'd put myself in another category which I'd call struggler. I'm in this world I try to understand but I don't fully know and perhaps even hate some aspects of it, commercialism and the ways we as people can be to satisfy our own desires would be amongst them. I have my ups and it can be posible to get the passing thrills but I don't really enjoy living in this world.

I wish I could see heaven clearly and believe more fully that there will be a place there for me. I also wish I could meet Jesus and have a chat with him, maybe he could set this tired old mind straight...

One perhaps could also call me a would be follower. I don't know if any one has been there but for me, wherever I've strayed over the past say 27 years, you have this sort of awareness that there is a compelling truth somewhere. Even in my darkest days with drink, I come back to it. I have also become more and more aware of (not saying I can't enjoy things) the futilities of things I might chase.

Truly finding Christ is not something I've managed yet but when it really comes down to it, there is no one else. For me, it is a hard mess but maybe one day?
 
I would say a fan is halfway to being a friend. Especially if Jesus is the idol. Approving of / liking someone who teaches us to hate sin and love our enemies = someone who hates sin and loves what is good. We all battle with actually doing what is good Rom 7:15. Just like those who approve of those who do evil, are evil Rom 1:32.

The issue is more if we fake being a true fan. Being a fan of Jesus not because of who He is and liking what He taught about self sacrifice, but because of what He can give us. Prosperity, healing and heaven. Churches are full of these types :giggle:.
 
A struggler, that is how I perceived myself for many years as a Christian going to Church, reading the Bible, serving God, and doing my best most of the time to obey God. Then I really got discouraged, so I kept going to Church, but got less involved in Christian service, Bible reading, prayer...

I became a Christian in 1977 and would have defined myself as a struggler until bout 2007, although from 1977 to 1987 or so I was intensely involved in Christian growth and service, and really felt that my heart strove after God. Then, in 1987, I broke and stayed broken until 2007.

So, many times I thought, well, I have no one else to turn but Christ, yet I am not sure I understand what it means to follow him in truth.

To sum up, from 1777 to 1987 I was a struggler with hope that God would somehow fix my life one day and make it as He wanted it. Then, from 1987 to 2007, I was a struggler who was gradually loosing hope until I figured I would never get anywhere spiritually.

Year 2008 was a turning point. That is when somehow the Spirit of God showed me I had to repent from one sin I had let myself slip into, and that was creating guilt and hindered my ability to live a joyful Christian life. Since then I have generally been experimenting joy and peace.

Which brings me to the Opening Post about being fan or follower of Christ. One of the things that struck home for me in 2008 was that Christianity is not about how well I succeeded in doing what I understand from the Bible that I should be doing, but that it was a matter of trusting Christ for having justified me and empowered me to live as He wants. So if I sin, I confess, and I trust God that I am forgiven.

Now this last statement presupposes a life where you try to do what God teaches in His Word. That was my case. That was my problem too. From 2008 and forward I found it much easier than before to rely on Christ for His righteousness and His forgiveness. I came to realize that the enemy of God could attempt to convince us that we are unable to obey God based on past failure, but that, as Christ's co-heir, I could call upon my Father to send armies and set me free from any prison where I might be constrained. So this was of great help to me.

Being a fan is not so difficult as being a follower. Followers do struggle sometimes. But an outcome of following Jesus Christ the King of the Universe is real joy and inner peace... Never perfectly here on earth... Never withouth glitches here and there... Yet real joy and real peace...
 
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When I was 5 or 6, I was a big fan of Frankie Avalon so I decided to organize a fan club. The major activity was making paper fans - whoever made the best one got to be president. :):);). I tended to be literal even then. A fan is someone who likes what they hear/see. Someone who follows is someone who seeks to learn. The follower always has struggles. The fan unfriends you when they stop hearing what they like.

Just my scattered thoughts. Walks away whistling Gingerbread.:whistle::whistle::whistle::whistle:
 
See... One of the things that stuck me is that when you are a "Fan" - there's no presumption of life change, altering your behavior, or aligning your will. There's also no presumption of permanence and lasting...

It really hit me that one of the most dangerous things we can fall into is actively being a "Fan"...
Why is this dangerous? We THINK we are doing something when we aren't... We listen and we attend and we nod our heads in agreement.... maybe give some money... Then - we leave and go to lunch and prepare for our week ahead...

2 verses that illustrate this:
The first:
Ezekiel 33:32-33 - You are to them as one who sings beautiful songs and plays well on an instrument.....
This verse should be particularly concerning to us... Especially in light of
Ezekiel 33:1-20 - the preamble... That God has sent the watchman to give the warning... Those who do not heed the warning are liable for their own blood....

The second:
Matt 11:21-24
Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in Sackcloth and Ashes. Nevertheless, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgement than for you. And you Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades, for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless, I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgement, than for you."

What surprises me is that in both of these verses - it's not enough to just listen... Action is required. We often don't think that there were CONSEQUENCES to those places where Jesus preached and did the bulk of his miracles.... God was expecting Repentance, Life change, and followers - and instead, he got a pat on the back, a head nod, then the people left there and carried on with what they were doing before.... See... Those people happily listened to the warning and rejoiced in the miracles, but they did not HEED the warning...

Thanks
 
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I suppose being a fan can be considered "lukewarm" but I think the danger there is without a rock solid foundation of faith, it will be easier to be deceived, misled in any great deception. Someone who "just" listens, goes to church and tithes may have that foundation.
 
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John Piper wrote a book called Desiring God that can be downloaded for free in PDF version from the following link: Desiring God – Meditations of a Christian Hedonist.

The central idea behind the book is that there is no conflict between our pleasure and desiring God, if we understand properly who we are and who God is. The very best way to live life for anyone and to be happy is to desire after God for God's own sake.

This involves obeying what God teaches us because we want to please Him, but also because that is what we really like the most to be doing.

God bless you all...
 
I think maybe you left one out other than "fan", "follower" and that is "example"

1Tim_4:12.. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
 
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Observing people who are fans at a sporting event such as hockey, football, baseball or soccer, we can understand easily what "fan" is short for: FANATIC! For me, I want to be known as a fanatic of Jesus Christ because I follow Him eagerly and with gusto! Jesus alone is worthy of us rising to our feet, raising our hands and shouting His praise!
 
I think maybe you left one out other than "fan", "follower" and that is "example"

1Tim_4:12.. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
Your post made my brain connect to another verse about what we are to be.
2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
I am an ambassador of Christ's.
All of chapter 5 speaks to this thread and I recommend reading it.
"For we walk by faith, not by sight".
 
I think we can be a fan because we have a great passion for Jesus. We have to make the determination; are we merely a fan or a fan with faith?
We must have faith in anything we do and keep Jesus in mind!
Jesus knows that we have our crosses to bear and we experience very troubling and doubting situations; however Jesus is always close by and touch us on the head and say "I'm here my child".
 
A struggler, that is how I perceived myself for many years as a Christian going to Church, reading the Bible, serving God, and doing my best most of the time to obey God. Then I really got discouraged, so I kept going to Church, but got less involved in Christian service, Bible reading, prayer...

I became a Christian in 1977 and would have defined myself as a struggler until bout 2007, although from 1977 to 1987 or so I was intensely involved in Christian growth and service, and really felt that my heart strove after God. Then, in 1987, I broke and stayed broken until 2007.

So, many times I thought, well, I have no one else to turn but Christ, yet I am not sure I understand what it means to follow him in truth.

To sum up, from 1777 to 1987 I was a struggler with hope that God would somehow fix my life one day and make it as He wanted it. Then, from 1987 to 2007, I was a struggler who was gradually loosing hope until I figured I would never get anywhere spiritually.

Year 2008 was a turning point. That is when somehow the Spirit of God showed me I had to repent from one sin I had let myself slip into, and that was creating guilt and hindered my ability to live a joyful Christian life. Since then I have generally been experimenting joy and peace.

Which brings me to the Opening Post about being fan or follower of Christ. One of the things that struck home for me in 2008 was that Christianity is not about how well I succeeded in doing what I understand from the Bible that I should be doing, but that it was a matter of trusting Christ for having justified me and empowered me to live as He wants. So if I sin, I confess, and I trust God that I am forgiven.

Now this last statement presupposes a life where you try to do what God teaches in His Word. That was my case. That was my problem too. From 2008 and forward I found it much easier than before to rely on Christ for His righteousness and His forgiveness. I came to realize that the enemy of God could attempt to convince us that we are unable to obey God based on past failure, but that, as Christ's co-heir, I could call upon my Father to send armies and set me free from any prison where I might be constrained. So this was of great help to me.

Being a fan is not so difficult as being a follower. Followers do struggle sometimes. But an outcome of following Jesus Christ the King of the Universe is real joy and inner peace... Never perfectly here on earth... Never withouth glitches here and there... Yet real joy and real peace...

Yeah.. this.. Im a struggler
 
How about this.........
A fan is some one who is all excited and praising God and yelpen and hollerin until the fire gets turned up. Then they fade for their is no true depth in their walk in Christ.

Now a follower learnes the ways of Christ and allows His word to change them totally. When the fire gets turned up - well they are the ones full of Joy and peace KNOWING God has got this and all they have to do is STAND IN FAITH AND TRUST.

Now which one are you ?
God Bless
Jim
 
Hmm a fan is an admirer I suppose. The object of their affection might not even know they exist.
There is no relationship, its only one sided.

This reminds me of the scripture where Jesus said go away I never knew you, even though people claimed they did miracles and signs and wonders in his name.

A follower becomes like the person they follow i suppose, and walks in their footsteps. They walk the talk.
 
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