FAN OR FOLLOWER?

Here's some fun for the day........

TRIVIA:  (Answer at bottom)
What disability did Thomas Edison have?

BRAIN TEASER:  (Answer at bottom)
Give me food and I will live.   Give me water and I will die.  What am I?

JOKE:
Q:  If there are 5 flies in the kitchen, which one is the football player?
A:  The one in the sugar bowl.


QUESTION OF THE DAY:
If pro and con are opposites, wouldn't the opposite of progress be congress?


COMIC FUN:

TRICIA'S TWEET OF THE DAY:
Patience is not the ability to wait, but how you act while you're waiting.

FAN OR FOLLOWER

In some earlier posts, I've mentioned some stories from a Tony Campolo book called "Let Me Tell You a Story".   I'm taking a look at another one today.   This one is the parable of the ducks.   Here's the story:

There's a town where only ducks live.  Every Sunday the ducks waddle out of their houses and waddle down Main Street to their church.   They waddle into the sanctuary and squat in their proper pews.  The duck choir waddles in and takes its place, then the duck minister comes forward and opens the duck Bible.  (Ducks, like all other creatures on earth, seem to have their own special version of the Scriptures)  The duck minister reads to them:  "Ducks!  God has given you wings!  With wings you can fly!  With wings you can mount up and soar like eagles.  No walls can confine you!  No fences can hold you!  You have wings.  God has given you wings and you can fly like birds!"

All the ducks shouted, "Amen!"  And then they all waddled home.


The gist of this story is that many people are like the ducks.  They hear about their potential with God.  They agree with the declarations about new life that can be theirs through a faith commitment.  But in the end, they don't act upon what they've heard.   They just waddle home.  

This parable of the ducks goes along with another book I'm reading right now called "Not a Fan" by Kyle Idleman.   He takes a look at the difference between being a fan of Jesus and being a follower.   It's a really good analyzation of the difference.   It's easy to think we are followers, but in truth, many of us are just fans.    

A fan is a 'enthusiastic admirer'.   Fans want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that is requires sacrifice.  Fans may be fine with repeating a prayer and attending church on the weekend, but is that the extent of the relationship Jesus wants?

Think of it in terms of a football game.   Fans cheer on the sidelines, but they never get in the game, they don't take the hard hits.   Fans can turn on their team when things are not going how'd they'd like.    A fan does not have the same investment in the game as a player.   In our walk with God, are we more like the fan or are we more like the player?

Kyle Idleman asks a good question in the book.    How many of our churches have gone from being sanctuaries to being stadiums?   Every week the fans come and cheer on Jesus, and yet they have no interest in following him if it means a sacrifice.   If it means taking some hard hits.   If it means actually getting in the game.

I'm not finished with the book yet, so I'm sure I'll share more about it in future posts, but for today I'll close out with asking 2 questions that both these books bring to mind.

Are you like the ducks?   Do you have wings but choose to waddle home instead of using them?

and.....

Are you a fan or a follower?


TRIVIA ANSWER:
He was hearing impaired

BRAIN TEASER:
Fire

Until next time..........