My daughter lent me "Story" a novel by Steven James.
One of those books I just couldn't put down & read it in less than a day.
The following is a quote he uses from Soren Kierkegaard then his comments on it.
"The difference between an admirer and a follower still remains, no matter where you are.
The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, gives up nothing, will not reconstruct his life, will not be what he admires, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires."
Soren Kierkegaard
As I read and re-read these blunt words, I had to ask myself, "Am I really a follower of Jesus, or am I just an admirer?"
I don't think there are too many followers of Jesus around anymore. There are plenty of churchgoing admirers, but most of us would rather not leave our nets behind and follow him. Instead we prefer dragging the nets onshore with us so we can have the best of both worlds. But of course that never works - you can't follow Jesus while you're dragging your old life along behind you. If you try to you'll wind up losing out on both.
2 comments:
Yes, I thought that book was great, too, which is why I lent it to you.
There are times I am confronted by this: am I an admirer or a follower?
I agree with your statement that the church is full of admirers. What a shock it's going to be to them when they get " Left Behind ".
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