What is it that is competing for your allegiance to Christ? You may have both hands on the plow, but what is it you keep looking back at? Until you really have surrendered anything and everything over to Jesus and truly put him above all else in your life, you will not know the joy and satisfaction that finally comes when you go all-in.
– Idleman, Kyle; Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus; Zondervan; copyright 2011; Grand Rapids, MI; Kindle Edition; page
The reason Jesus is so adamant about followers surrendering everything is because the reality is this: the one thing we are most reluctant to give up is the one thing that has the most potential to become a substitute for him.
– Idleman, Kyle; Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus; Zondervan; copyright 2011; Grand Rapids, MI; Kindle Edition; page 212
When you accept the invitation of Jesus to follow him, you are not just saying that he is a top priority in your life; you are making him the only priority in your life. He desparately wants you, but he wont’t share you. He will settle for nothing less than your undivided attention and complete commitment.
– Idleman, Kyle; Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus; Zondervan; copyright 2011; Grand Rapids, MI; Kindle Edition; page 211
On the invitation Jesus gives us to follow him there is an RSVP date and it reads: TODAY. The word tomorrow is not in the Holy Spirit’s vocabulary. When Jesus calls us to follow, he means right now. He means today.
– Idleman, Kyle; Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus; Zondervan; copyright 2011; Grand Rapids, MI; Kindle Edition; page 210
Jesus wants followers who will say yes to him before they even know the request. A follower of Jesus says, “My answer is yes, now where do you want me to go?”
Jesus may point to Burma, or he may point to across the street.
– Idleman, Kyle; Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus; Zondervan; copyright 2011; Grand Rapids, MI; Kindle Edition; page 188
It’s much easier to speak about following Jesus when you are making a general statement without any specific commitments. But the most obvious and basic definition of following Jesus will mean making some significant life changes. Following Jesus literally means that you go where Jesus goes. When you think of it that way, suddenly those poetic words have some huge implications.
– Idleman, Kyle; Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus; Zondervan; copyright 2011; Grand Rapids, MI; Kindle Edition; page 182
Christ says, “Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out.”
– C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
as quoted by Idleman, Kyle; Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus; Zondervan; copyright 2011; Grand Rapids, MI; Kindle Edition; page 166
Jesus didn’t come to this earth so that you would be better behaved or to tweak your personality or to fine-tune your manners or smooth out your rough spots. Jesus didn’t even come to this earth to change you. The truth of the gospel is that Jesus came so that you could die.
– Idleman, Kyle; Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus; Zondervan; copyright 2011; Grand Rapids, MI; Kindle Edition; page 166
Contrast the symbol of the cross with our love for comfort. Most of us commit our time and our resources to make our lives as comfortable as possible. We are by nature comfort seekers, not cross bearers. We are the people of the Lazyboy, the country club, the day spa and the Snuggie.
– Idleman, Kyle; Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus; Zondervan; copyright 2011; Grand Rapids, MI; Kindle Edition; page 162-163
Jesus makes it clear that following him means taking up your cross and dying to yourself. That’s what a follower is committing to. I can only imagine the awkward tension as Jesus lays out this expectation for his followers. Unfortunately, many churches today have decided that this message is too uncomfortable and the cross is too offensive. As a result, there are many fans who call themselves followers, but they’re not carrying a cross.
– Idleman, Kyle; Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus; Zondervan; copyright 2011; Grand Rapids, MI; Kindle Edition; page 162
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