People are naturally drawn to strong, confident masculine leadership. On the sports field, in the military, on the job, in politics, or in the church, when men show strength and confidence, exuding competence, others begin to look to them for leadership. This masculine leadership can be and has been faked and perverted. Charismatic leaders who portray confidence will be followed by those who are unstable. Even though they are incompetent and ignorant, they can nonetheless gather crowds of fans around them. In a world racked with anxious uncertainty, it is easy to get fans. However, these fans are fickle and can turn on you just as quickly as they started following you.
Jesus had fans. That is understandable. When he went into the Temple and threw out the moneychangers, overturned tables, and drove away the sacrificial animals, he showed strength directed against corruption. During the week following that incident, he performed signs in Jerusalem so that “many believed in his name” (Jn 2:23). He was strong. He was confident. He was a wonder-worker. He could do things for them. They were fans.
But they were only fans. Jesus’ response to “the many” who believed in his name was that he didn’t “believe” in them. John uses the same word to describe Jesus’ negative response as he does the many’s positive response. “The many” trusted in him, but he didn’t entrust himself to them. That is something of the sense here. Jesus didn’t commit his time and energy to them because he knew what was in them; he knew their hearts. He knew they were only fans, not disciples.
Jesus will encounter this again at another Passover when he feeds five thousand men (Jn 6). People flock around him as he feeds them. But when he starts telling them that he is the bread of life and that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood to have eternal life, they scatter like fog at dawn. Only the twelve are left, and Jesus asks if they will go too.
If you’ve been a Christian for a long time, you’ve likely seen this. People come to the faith, and they are filled with excitement. Wonderful things are happening. They feel all the feelings, and it seems to them that everything is coming up roses. They are Jesus’ biggest fans. But then the hard stuff hits the fan. The church that had been supporting him financially informs him that the funds are being cut off, and he needs to find a job. The honeymoon emotions wear off, and the mundane, boring daily disciplines set in. He faces a moral dilemma at work that will either cost him his faith or his job. He has to choose between sex with his girlfriend or faithfulness to Jesus. The faith isn’t fun anymore. It doesn’t feel like we’re winning. It feels more like a cross than a crown. The fan searches for something or someone else to give him what he wants.
We are not able to read the hearts of men as Jesus is, but his pattern of ministry informs us as to the way we are to minister to others. Jesus does good to people and proclaims the gospel to them, but he isn’t dragging people who refuse to change. Jesus calls people to believe and, therefore, to act in certain ways. If they aren’t willing to do that, then he doesn’t invest himself in them. He separates the fans from the disciples. So should we.
Sometimes we have a savior mentality that the Savior himself didn’t have. We desperately want this person to repent. That’s the right desire. But you can’t make people do what you desire them to do, no matter how much you try. What generally happens is that you want them to do right so badly that you begin to enable their rebellious lifestyles. You continue to listen to them drone on time after time about how they failed again. They aren’t making any effort to change. For them, their getting this off their chest is some sort of penance. But it is not repentance. You think you’re doing them a service, but it is cruel mercy because you’re enabling sin.
We are to call people to faith and repentance. When they demonstrate a willingness to be disciples, we should invest as much as we can in them. If they show themselves to be only fans, we should follow Jesus and not entrust ourselves to them.
Photo by Anthony DELANOIX on Unsplash
