Fan or Follower?
Luke 19:28-44
©Copyright
March 16, 2008 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche
The rich story of
the Triumphal entry of Jesus is a familiar story to most people. It is seen as one of the high points of
Jesus’ earthly life. Yet it is also
deceiving.
As Jesus walked
into
Back in the early
days of television there was a game show called “To Tell the Truth”. It involved a panel of four people. Each episode I believe three people would
step on stage and declare that they were all the same person who had achieved
some feat. The task of the show was for
the four panel members to guess who the real person was and who the imposters
were.
Jesus warns us that
faith is a little like this. He warns us
that people can look good on the outside yet still be rejected by God in the
end. He warns us that some people are
not really followers, they are just fans.
SOME BIBLICAL
WARNINGS
Jesus made several
statements in the Bible that drew a contrast between those who look good but
are not truly His followers. The first text is a parable about a wedding feast.
In Matthew 25 Jesus tells us about 10 virgins who are waiting to escort the
groom to the home of the bride where the week long reception would take
place. This was a big ritual and almost
like a game. The Bridegroom would often
come at odd times to try to catch people by surprise. Listen to the story Jesus told,
the kingdom of
heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the
bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The
foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The
wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The
bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell
asleep.
6 “At midnight the
cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the
virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to
the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “ ‘No,’ they
replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who
sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they
were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were
ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the
others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied,
‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep
watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
In this story all
ten virgins were waiting for the bridegroom.
They all looked forward to his arrival. They all desired to accompany
him to the home of the bride. They all came with lamps. They all fell
asleep. Only half of these women gained
entrance into the wedding feast. The
other half was turned away because they were not adequately prepared.
In Matthew 7 Jesus gives
a similar warning during the Sermon on the Mount He said,
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father
who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord,
did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform
many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.
Away from me, you evildoers!’ [Matthew 7:21-23]
Notice the credentials
of those who were rejected: they prophesied in His name, they drove out demons
and even performed miracles. They had an
impressive resume. These people were folks we might call “dynamic
believers”. Some of them would have been
leaders in our church. Yet, Jesus said,
He will cast them away.
In Revelation 3
Jesus spoke to the church in the city of
I know your deeds; you have a reputation of
being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains
and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of
my God.
This church looked
good on the outside but was still rejected by Christ. What happened? I believe these people were fans and not
followers.
These passages show
us that appearances are deceiving. A
person can look good on the outside and still be far from God. A person can be respected as religious and
still miss out on Heaven. You can be a
leader in the church and still miss eternal life. It all depends on whether you are a fan or a
follower.
BEING A FAN OF
JESUS
A fan of Jesus is
someone who is fond of Jesus. They cheer
for Him. They love the stories of His
life and ministry. They know the right
words; they sing Him songs and perhaps are even students of His Words. If Jesus were running for President they
would vote for Him and might even put a magnetic bumper sticker on their car in
support of His candidacy.
Being a fan of
Jesus is quite acceptable in our society.
People like Jesus. There are a lot of different views as to who Jesus
really is, but most people like the fact that He was a wise man who did good
things. Being a fan of Jesus usually
doesn’t hurt you socially (unless you take
it too far).
People join the fan
club of Jesus for many reasons.
The best thing
about being a fan of Jesus is that it is easy. It need not get in the way of
your dreams and goals. It doesn’t have
to even wrinkle your clothes. Unfortunately, it also won’t get you into Heaven.
Recently someone
was telling me about the church they were attending. They told me about how “cool” and “fun” the
church was. I asked what the message was
like and was told, “It is O.K. but it’s
such a small part of the service it is not a big deal!” Maybe it is just because I am a Pastor, but I
think the teaching of God’s Word should be a central part of our time together.
God’s Word is what the Holy Spirit uses
to guide, direct and transform us.
Unfortunately, many
who worship today approach their time like they do a concert (how many people
do you know who focus on the music?).
Their goal is to go and have a good time. They may feel a “high” after the service (which
they mistake as an encounter with God) but their experience isn’t any different
than when they attend a concert, play, or a movie they enjoyed. They enjoyed
the experience, but have they really encountered God?
BEING A FOLLOWER
OF JESUS
It is easy to feel
a sense of despair when we read these words about those who look good on the
outside but are not true believers. How do we tell if we are fans or
followers?
There are different
levels of “belief”.
We can illustrate
by using skydiving. People can say they
“believe skydiving is fun” and mean very different things. On the CONTENT level of belief they people
really enjoy learning about aerodynamics. They read books about skydiving. They can talk intelligently about the
subject.
Those who are on
the ASSENT level of belief like to watch others skydiving. They may even help pack parachutes and drive
a vehicle that retrieves those who get a little off course. These people may even ride in the plane to
assist those who are jumping. They are
involved. They believe it would be the
greatest thing in the world to jump out of a place.
The COMMITMENT
level of belief in the enjoyment of skydiving is when you actually strap on
your own parachute and you jump out of the plane!
Each of these
people would say they “believe skydiving is great”. All three would be enthusiastic about
skydiving. However, the first two groups
are only skydiving fans, the last person was a true skydiver. He is the one
that best resembles a true child of God.
2 Corinthians 5:17
tells us that “if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has
passed away and the new has come.” Paul
was reminding the Corinthians that the sign of true discipleship is a
willingness to actually follow Christ.
Following Christ means
In Matthew 4:18-22
we see the kind of person who is a true follower. Jesus saw Simon and Andrew and called them to
follow him and we are told that they “left their nets and followed Him.” We are told the same thing about the brothers
James and John. When Matthew was called
to follow Jesus he was at his job in the tax collector booth. When Jesus called, Matthew left everything
and followed Him. All of these men
followed Jesus, even to their death.
When Paul became a
follower he was immediately changed from a persecutor of the church to a
defender of the church. The kind of
dramatic change we see in Paul would be like Rush Limbaugh getting on the air
tomorrow and telling everyone he was now a Democrat.
Jesus is looking
for those who are willing to follow Him fully.
He is looking for those who are willing to pay whatever price is
necessary because they believe what they are pursuing is worth any sacrifice. He is looking for those who are willing to
commit themselves to Him.
Think about it
another way. Every year diplomas are handed
out to students. All those who receive
diplomas are graduates but not all of them have gotten an education. Some of
the graduates learned what they needed to know to pass a test. Others didn’t even do that much. They purchased term papers, cheated on tests
and plagiarized the works of others. They viewed school as a necessary evil.
Those who received
an education saw the value of knowledge.
They stayed up late doing homework.
The wrestled with ideas. They asked questions. They stretched their minds. They learned how to think, write, and they
built on foundation on which they could build the structure of their lives. These people look back on their school days
and which they had paid even more attention.
These people don’t look much different from the first group on the
outside. On the inside, things are very
different.
It is the same way
in the church. There are many who get
baptismal certificates, membership certificates, and are given titles of
various kinds. However, this doesn’t
mean the people are followers of Christ.
The true followers are the One who are committed to Christ in their
daily life.
CONCLUSIONS
Let’s face it; none
of us are serving our Lord the way He deserves to be served. We should repent of such failure. You can be a follower of Christ even if you
don’t follow perfectly. It’s just like
in marriage, you can still love your spouse and be committed to them even
though we may not be as committed as we should be.
To evaluate our own
lives we need to start with a simple question: Have you ever really declared my
desire and commitment to follow Christ?
Have you ever gotten alone with the Lord and said, “Father, I cannot
earn your forgiveness by my own good deeds, for they are few. I know Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for
sin for all who would believe and trust Him.
I want you to know that I am one of those people. I want to be counted among His followers. I want to put my hope and confidence in His
work on my behalf. I want your Holy
Spirit to live, dwell in and empower me.
Since it is
possible to say those words and not really mean them. We must next do a rigorous personal inventory
of our lives. We have to ask a hard question: “am I really following
Jesus?”
1. Is your relationship with Him impacting your
life? In other words, are you living
differently because of your relationship with Him?
2. Is your relationship with Christ changing your
values, goals and the way you relate to others?
3. Are you developing an intimate relationship
with God? Is God more than a theological
concept or a warm feeling?
4. Are you seeing a greater sense of humility
and gratitude developing in your life?
People who become arrogant and rigid are those who are tend to be committed
to organizations, systems and status.
Those who truly know Jesus become increasingly aware of their own
sinfulness and increasingly grateful for God’s incredible mercy and grace. The
true follower becomes soft rather than hard.
5. Do you view others as competitors in life or
are you starting to see others as people in need of the grace that can be found
in Christ alone.
Take a good look at
the people who lined the road leading into
I hope this picture
startles you. I want you to be
concerned. I want you to realize that it
is not enough to stand and cheer with others.
It is not enough to do religious things and speak with religious lingo.
It’s not enough to impress others. God
calls us to follow Christ. He calls us
to make Him the center and ruler of our lives. He calls us to bet our lives and our eternity
on Him. Those people who will do this; those who become true followers; are
those who will walk with Jesus and enjoy the great banquet we call eternal
life.
©Copyright March 16, 2008 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche