Book Review: Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman

If you want to be challenged in your Christian walk, pick this book up and read it.  It's not a book that is easy to read because it tends to show you how short you fall as a follower of Christ.  Too many of us are simply fans of Christ.  In the words of Kyle, "The biggest threat to the church today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren't actually interested in following Christ.  They want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires anything from them."  I think that describes pretty accurately many Christians today.  In America, we don't really know what it truly means to be a follower of Christ.

Kyle points shares a story of a pastor in Russia during the communism era who saw many people come to know Christ.  However, when they would tell him they received Christ, he would say, "that's great, but do you know what it's going to cost you?"  After they made that decision, they went through a 3-month course to make sure they fully understood the cost of being a Christian (loss of family, friendships, jobs, kids, wife/husband, or even death) before they went public in the statement of baptism.  He wanted to know they were committed and that they had counted the cost.  Wow.  That stuck out at me, as well as how God doesn't want to be first place.  He wants to be THE person in our lives.  Not one of many.  And since I've been struggling and being frustrated with keeping my house clean, it really hit me when he talked about how the things we tend to get frustrated with show us our priorities and what could compete with our focus on God.  Ouch.  Talk about perfect timing when I had just spend 2 days focusing solely on cleaning my house.  (Not that a clean house is bad...but I tend to stress when it's even a little messy.)

So much in this book is great.  The whole question to answer is: Are you a fan of Christ or a follower of Christ.  Kyle wrote with passion, love, and even humor.  I loved the footnotes at the bottom.  They made me laugh when I read them.  I will also say that it had the best prologue that I have ever read.  It sucked me into the book and the purpose before I even started Chapter 1.  That hasn't happened in a long time.  Can't wait to read more by him!  I challenge you to read this book, too, and become a follower of Christ and not just a fan.
__________________
 I received the book from Zondervan for free.