A "fan" of Jesus? or follower?

It's ironic to use the word "fan" in connection with religion. Many use these two words together to indicate an insane and unreasonable person who takes a position on a subject that opposes their own: "religious fanatic."

I think there are too many Jesus fans, and not enough people actually following Jesus (sometimes I wonder if this doesn't describe ME!). What's the diff?

If you're a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, you love them. At some point, many years ago, you watched their games with interest. Maybe you liked them because you lived in Pennsylvania, because your team stunk but the Steelers won the Super Bowl that year, or because Lynn Swann defied gravity. Whatever. You liked them. But over the years, your interest has grown to love and fanaticism. Now you have several "terrible towels," you have a different Super Bowl t-shirt for every Saturday of the month (congratulations), several unintelligible Terry Bradshaw autographs, and you even subscribed to NFL's "Sunday Ticket" so you could see every game, home and away. Over the years maybe you've spent countless thousands of dollars on tickets, parties you've hosted, and stuff. At the end of the Super Bowl earlier this month, when Larry Fitzgerald (of the Cardinals--this note is, of course, for the non-football fans among us) scored that touchdown with just minutes to play, you got a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. Some of you even cried. Okay. You get the idea. That's a fan--a FANATIC. They follow their team rabidly and are emotionally invested in the team. But you've never played one down of football for the Steelers in your life.

There are a few young men who were stirred at a deeper level than just wiping nacho cheese on their pants when they saw the Steelers win Super Bowls in the 70s and 80s.. These guys decided that their whole lives were going to be changed because of Franco Harris. They began to throw the football around with friends after the game. They learned to throw, catch and run the ball. They chose which high school they were going to based on the football coach and program. They began to get up early in the morning and hit the weight room. They skipped the midnight snacks because they wanted to be in shape for the morning repeats at the track. They missed out on video games and movies because they were at practice; and they missed out on parties and other nonsense because they took the team's code-of-conduct seriously. Their whole life was about actually PLAYING football.

Getting back to Jesus, I'd like to contend that we have lots of fans, and not enough followers. We collect books about Jesus, have canceled tickets from concerts, and "Promise Keepers" hats. We have been all about getting our picture taken with Billy Graham and even putting bumper stickers on our cars. (Disclaimer: no, there's nothing "wrong" with any of those things!.)

Here's where my own gut-check comes in. Am I following in His steps? Actually throwing the ball? What does that mean? Well, do I rely on His strength in prayer moment-by-moment? Do I actually wake up early to get to the "gym" of regular time with my Trainer? Am I actually denying myself and putting the needs of others ahead of my own? Have I chosen to not hold stuff against people who hurt me in the past (read: "forgiven them.")? Am I truly moved by and serving the needs of people who could never repay me? Have I identified and "put to death" my anger? Am I prayerfully and purposefully bringing the true gospel (not just some "non-perishable items") to the poor? Do I make sacrifices for God that astound others but simply make sense to me? Am I working at knowing God more (and LOVING it)? Have I given up even caring about what "people might think" about my love for God?

I guess this is the difference between fan and follower. No football follower ever got back from a hard practice and cared much about what "other people might think" of him for actually giving up his life for a sport--even a high school sport. Bruises, blood and even broken bones are displayed with honor. He did it with conviction. And football, in the final analysis, is stupid.

In the end, fanaticism (being a "fan") is worthless--for both football and religion. Even fans know this. Spending thousands of dollars on a team that you are actually NOT a part of is, well, worthless. But I suppose if you go into Jack Lambert's basement (he's a famous former Steeler), his stuff has some meaning. He's not just a fan. He's a Steeler.

So question to self: "When it comes to Jesus--Fan, or Follower?"