Jesus Christ called many of his closest disciples with just two recorded words in Scripture: "Follow me." How many Christians today are really, truly following Jesus?
"Follow me," said Jesus to his disciples. And, yet, says George Barna in his book Growing True Disciples, "The twenty-first century has many 'followers' of Christ in the sense that I follow the Yankees." Ouch!
Of course, you may not follow the Yankees. In my case, I'm not a huge baseball fan. But I'm enough of a sports fan (football being my favorite) that I get his point. Many Christians out there are great at rooting for Christ and telling others to root for him, but they don't do such a good job at actually FOLLOWING Jesus Christ.
Barna, a Yankees fan, explains how this dynamic works in modern America:
You and I are "followers" of many different people, organizations, activities, and ideas. For instance, I "follow" the New York Yankees. When they win a game, I'm happy for a few seconds, and then I get on with my life. When the Yankees lose a game, I'm disappointed for a few seconds, and then I get on with my life. I am not a Yankee zealot - a person who is single-mindedly invested in the day-to-day fortunes of the team.
I would add that there are quite a bit of sports fans who would be upset for more than "a few seconds" if their team lost. More like a few days! But Barna's basic point still stands. Sports team fans follow their teams and their moods rise and fall based on the team fortunes, but they (generally speaking) aren't really PERSONALLY invested in that team. They are a spectator, a fan, an amateur cheerleader - and sometimes armchair coach.
Jesus doesn't call us to be a follower of his in the way that we follow our sports team. He calls us to single-minded, sold-out devotion. How many Christians today have that kind of devotion to Christ?
