When following gets hard

Interestingly enough, my last post on "Fans or Followers" is along the lines of the sermon series called "Opening Day" Rick Atchley of The Hills Church of Christ is presenting. You can get caught up to date by visiting www.thehills.org and finding the videos and/or podcasts of these messages.

I am a firm believer that God coordinates all events that happen in our lives, and so it is not too big a surprise for me to have the phrase "Fans or Followers" show up from two independent sources in my life. I am sure that there are an awful lot of people out there that have experienced the same thing. I take it as a verification that I am following what God is telling me to do.

The problem is that even with that verification, continuing to follow gets harder. Our enemy knows that once we start down a path given to us by God, we usually expect that the hard times are behind us. Wrong! The initial decision to follow that path might be the easiest part of the journey. Anyone who has made a decision to truly follow Jesus finds more struggles and trials than they expected. After all, if we are not challenging "strongholds" and "principalities", we are not a threat to the enemy's plan! Too many times a believer in Christ is lulled into a false sense of security by the notion that "I have taken Jesus as my Savior, and therefore have done all I need to get to Heaven."

The enemy cannot take us away from Jesus forcibly, but he can distract us from doing the good things that we should be doing. When we attend a worship service, we need to be aware of those around us in a proactive way. Newcomers and guests usually feel left out without a very visible outreach towards them. It is upon the members, ALL the members, of a local congregation to make sure that no one gets "left behind". It is not just the job of the elders, ministers, or staff to do these things, but every "follower" has the duty to do this. If you just go, sit in the pew (even if you stand, sing, and raise your arms), and go home after talking to friends, you are a fan, not a follower.

Rick made the application of a young baseball fan this morning, and it really made a point with me. When I was young, I lived, ate, and breathed baseball from 5 yrs old until I turned 16. I went through every level of organized ball available to me during those years. I hated to miss a game, and played hurt sometimes because I loved it so much. Although I didn't like sitting on the bench, I was there screaming encouragement to my teammates when I wasn't playing.

We need to live our Christian lives like we are serious about it. Fans choose to change teams for many reasons, like the team isn't doing well, but a follower sticks with their team through anything. I became an Oakland Raiders fan in 1971, developed into a follower for many years (though I was never able to see them in person) and today, still consider them my favorite football team. I have not kept up with them over the past few years, so my "following" leaves something to be desired. Let us not allow anything to distract us from following the path Jesus has set for us.