I read this book a few weeks ago. It’s called Not a Fan, and I liked it. It was written by this guy named Kyle who is trying to get Christians to understand the difference between being a fan of Jesus and a follower of Jesus. Good idea. So he gives examples of people in the New Testament who had encounters with Jesus, and by their reactions we can decide if they were fans or real followers. Kyle has a lot of good insights and some very good points, but for the first half of the book I was pretty much just enjoying it. I was challenged by some things he said and encouraged by some things he said, but it was all comfortingly familiar. It kept my thoughts in that vague and fuzzy zone where they look like this: “Of course there’s room for improvement in my walk with Jesus. Hmm… I’m not as bad as that example from Scripture, but I’m probably not as good as this one… Man! There are a lot of people I would like to recommend this book to!”
Do you know what I’m talking about? I think the problem for me was the term “follower”. Even with Kyle’s explanation of what he meant by it, I still wasn’t coming down on anything too concrete. If I have any kind of critique of the book at all, it would be the use of that term. “Fan” is pretty straightforward, but “follower”? There are just so many kinds of followers. Which kind should we be? Like, a Twitter follower? A cult follower? A scores-and-highlights follower?
But that was just the first half of the book. Somewhere near the middle he started using a better word. SLAVE. Now that’s concrete. I know exactly what that looks like. And I think it was exactly what I needed to hear.
It’s so, so simple, and so, so beautiful! If I am a slave of Christ (or bondservant, as Paul calls it) it becomes so exceedingly clear how it is possible to live the kind of life that Jesus says I’m to live. For starters, it means that I’m not my own master. I’m not calling the shots. If something comes up and I don’t know what to do, I just ask my master. I ask, and I trust that he whose work I am doing will let me know my job assignment. Do slaves worry about their master’s money? Do slaves worry about their master’s 5-year plans? Nope. Slaves don’t provide their own food, clothes, or shelter. They don’t choose where to go or what to do when they get there. They don’t get to be lazy. Their job is to serve. And if you think I’m starting to sound naïve and idealistic, then read the words of Jesus and tell me I’m wrong. What does he promise us? The same things a master would promise his slave. Sound too simple for you? It’s supposed to be simple. How else could Paul rejoice in his sufferings? Why else would Jesus say his yoke is easy and his burden is light? How else can we be expected to have faith like a child?
So the world “slave” really turned the lights on for me. It has actually changed my outlook on life. And, as an added bonus, I finally found my life verse! I never really understood what a life verse was. I have a favorite verse, but it has more to do with my death than my life. (It’s Job 19:25-26 if you’re interested.) “Life verse” just always sounded so… I don’t know… church-y. It seemed like one of those things that everybody talks about but nobody ever really defines. Anyway, I finally understand what it means. And this is my life verse: “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him to stand.” Romans 14:4.
Why that verse? Because I’m a slave. A very opinionated and judgmental slave (right, Mom?) who is working alongside other slaves who are doing my master’s work and ALL of whom the Lord will uphold and cause to stand, just as much as or more so than me. So I need this verse because it puts me in my place. And I need to stay in that place for the rest of my life, so it will henceforth and forevermore be my life verse. So if you have ever asked yourself, “What would Jesus do?” and yourself answered, “How the heck should I presume to know THAT?”, then next time ask yourself, “What would a SLAVE of Jesus do?” and I bet the answer will punch you right in the face.