The group of believers with whom I meet weekly recently started the video study based on Kyle Idleman’s excellent book, “Not a Fan”. It’s been a while since I read the book, but it was absolutely life changing for me, and I highly recommend you make it part of your annual reading list. I’ve written several articles in the past that were inspired by the book, but the group discussion has stirred some fresh thoughts in me and has challenged me to ask once again if I am truly a follower of Jesus or merely a fan. Am I sacrificing everything for the sake of following Him, or am I merely playing at this thing we call Christianity?
humility
The Greatest Commandment
A religious leader once asked Jesus what was the most important commandment of all (Matthew 22:34-40). His reply was to “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and mind.” He went on to say that the second greatest commandment was to love everyone else as much as we love ourselves. This is the essence of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Our lives are to be consumed with Him, and the way we express that is by giving the same love He has given us to everyone we meet. These are really the only “rules” required to be a disciple of Jesus. If we live in this way, we can be assured that we are living in the will of God.
Give Me Your Eyes
Building the Kingdom of God is accomplished by living our lives in such a way that we look just like Jesus. If you want to honor God, do the things that Jesus did. While no one I know has mastered the art of walking on water or giving sight to the blind, there are many less super-natural ways we can live that beautifully reflect the love and character of Christ. Jesus told the crowds in His day that He had come to seek and save those who were lost (Luke 19:10). That is something you and I can do in our everyday lives, no miracles required. All it takes is a willingness to see the world through the eyes of Jesus.
Getting What You Deserve
A phrase I’ve grown weary of hearing over the years is, “you deserve it.” It permeates the advertising world as well as our everyday speech. We tell colleagues they deserve their recent promotion or our friends that they deserve some time away. Commercials try to convince us that we deserve a new car or the latest electronic gadgetry. As followers of Jesus, I hope you recognize that what we deserve is an eternity separated from our Creator. We deserve nothing in this life because we have all squandered what God has entrusted to us. To be frank, we deserve Hell. I think that’s why we spend so much time trying to be comfortable and secure. We know what we deserve and yet do everything in our power to keep from thinking about it.
No Secrets
We all live with some facade. Few are comfortable allowing the world to see all their faults and failures. There are things we wish we did better and things we wish we didn’t do at all. If we’re honest, we all have secrets and things we hide from the view of others. It can range from the smallest bad habit to the most extreme action. We’re so careful to make certain these things never surface, that they do nothing to damage the picture we show to the world. Along the way, we forget one of the earliest lessons we ever learned: there is nothing you can hide from God.