I grew up in a home with a father who lived, breathed and died Wake Forest athletics. During basketball and golf season, that was not usually a bad thing. But during football season it was like having a root canal with no Novocain. Okay, maybe it was like having two root canals with no Novocain. It was painful to say the least. After all, Wake Forest is the losingest division1 football team in the history of college football. That's not really the claim to fame that you want. It did teach us how to be tough and take harassment because there was really only one year we could celebrate. The rest of the time, we would be happy to have the Demon Deacons end the season with a winning record. It was a major miracle if they went to a bowl game.
What in the world does this have to do with faith? Just hang on and we will get there. On Saturday afternoon, I watched Wake forest against Florida State (Who is ranked #23 in the nation) play on ESPN3. I turned on the game after my son's baseball practice and the game was almost at the end of the fourth quarter. So I got to watch the fourth quarter and Wake Forest was actually ahead. The entire quarter, I am waiting for Florida State to come back and beat Wake because this is a normal occurrence for Wake. Yet Wake was able to hold on and pull of the upset. Even though I wanted to be calm, cool and confident, I couldn't. I yelled at the refs. I yelled at Coach Grobe. I cheered when Wake did well and I groaned when they didn't do so well. My blood pressure was probably a little high and even when it appeared Wake was probably going to win, I couldn't relax. When the game finally ended I jumped around, yelled and posted the results on my Facebook page. Even though it was been thirty years since I lived in North Carolina, seven years since I went to a Wake game and I never even attended Wake Forest, I am a fan. It's now deeply embedded in my mind's DNA. I can't escape it. I will always want them to win. I will always be delusional enough to think that this might be THE season for them. Being a Wake Forest fan isn't easy!
The dictionary defines fan as: "An ardent devotee; an enthusiast. Short for fanatic." I guess by that definition, I am a Wake Forest fan. However, this morning at church as we were singing praises to God, I began to wonder if I really were a fan of Jesus. I see Oakland Raiders fans dressing in wild costumes to pull for their teams. I see fans as sporting events yelling and screaming, cheering for their teams. I see fans of different TV shows, stopping everything they are doing to watch that show. I see fans of different musicians laying out big bucks to download music, buy CDs and go to concerts. So this is a powerful and fair question: Am I an fan of Jesus? Would others know my allegiance by how I live my life? Sure I could get a Jesus tatoo, but that is a superficial way to express my faith. I could rock Jesus gear everywhere I went, but that isn't fanaticism. I could get a Jesus bumper sticker or a symbol to put on my truck. But it that the level of fan I really want to be?
I want to look at Jesus more passionately than Wake Forest athletics. I want to live, breath and die Jesus. I want to cheer for those who are living for Him. I want to join others in shouting praises to Him. I don't want to be afraid to dance when I feel like dancing to the Lord. I want to tell others about Jesus, even though they may think I am crazy. You ought to see the looks when I tell people I follow Wake Forest athletics! I want others to see my life as a calling card from the Savior of the world. I want my conversation to revole around Jesus. I want to see Jesus have victory in this world.
How about you? Do you want to be a Jesus fanatic or a casual consultant? Yes, being a fanatic of Jesus isn't easy but it's always worth it!!
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