Wednesday, April 16, 2014

4/16 by Josh Horton

As most of you know because you've either read it about me or have heard me proclaiming it from the mountain tops, I'm a HUGE fan of a professional soccer team from London: Chelsea Football Club. Now, my passion for Chelsea means a few things.

The first, is that I read just about every piece of writing that is available to us Americans on the team. I wake up and it's actually one of the first things on my mind (partially because the first half of their day in the UK happens while I'm sleeping). I scour the web searching for analysis on the previous match and predictions for the next one.

The second is that almost everywhere I go I'm talking about the famous CFC. I talk to my girlfriend about it all of the time (she's kind enough to listen to me blab), I'll explain parts of the game to people that they sometimes don't care about. And, when there are fans of other teams who bad mouth Chelsea, it wells up this desire in me to fight their every negative statement. 

Lastly, it means that I'm connected to Chelsea fans all over the place- all over the world even. Through outlets such as social media, I can talk to British fans who attend games and can learn from their expert and experienced knowledge. I can gather with fellow Chelsea supporters at local pubs and restaurants to cheer on our team together. Sometimes supporting Chelsea means I will love complete strangers just because they're part of the Blue Family.

Interestingly, while in America we call ourselves "fans" when we like a sports team, Englishmen and women refer to themselves as "followers." Pretty wild, isn't it? Now, following Jesus is and will always be more significant than following some soccer team (even if they are amazing). However, I think that many of the principles that are pivotal to being TRUE followers of a team are also irreplaceable when it comes to following Jesus. 

When we follow Him, it means we take in every piece of information we can about Him. Truly following Jesus means that within us there is a passion to consume all things Christ! To want to learn all we can out of admiration. This passion is followed by a consuming desire to share Christ's awesomeness with everyone we meet. To give them the stats- whether they seem interested in them or not because of how much it excites us. We can't contain it! And following Him means we engage with other followers over the great, great thing that unites us. Our incredible salvation- the ultimate victory- that Christ himself offers. 

To follow Jesus, we must not just be "fans" who like teams, but followers, whose every breath IS laced with joy of simply being allowed to follow. 

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