Though I love sports, I am definitely not "all in" with any particular team. On the one hand, I'll definitely take any opportunity to watch or support my favorite teams like the Broncos, the Twins, the Timberwolves, or my hometown Dutchmen. Yet, what have they promised me in return? That they'll make sure my time and money spent is worth the entertainment dollar? Yea!? What good, in the long run, does that do? I guess it's better than choosing entertainment options that are blatantly harmful to me in some way. So what, or WHO, is worth being "all in" for?
Short answer: Jesus.
There aren't many people who would say they don't believe Jesus existed or that He was a bad guy. Now-a-days, it seems like a pretty safe conversation to talk about who Jesus was and how it's important to do life the way Jesus said it should be done. Yet, fewer and fewer people are choosing to change anything in their life around being a follower of Jesus. There's some sort of bias against or fear concerning the whole idea of "following Jesus". How many people really know what it means to follow Jesus? How many people have really tried it?
Not many. Why is that?
One main reason is that the church (at least in much of America) doesn't really ask a whole lot from people who want to be a part of their church. As a pastor, I know what that's like because, if I were really honest, it is much easier to prepare sermons and keep a Sunday morning service going than it is to call people (literally and figuratively) to surrender their lives to Jesus. No matter whose fault it is, we've allowed ourselves to think that just "being" a Christian, rather than an atheist or a Buddhist or a Muslim, or an agnostic or undecided, is good enough.
Fans of sports teams, I mean TRUE fans that have the gear, watch all the games, and know all the players, hate it when the fan-base increases dramatically when the team does really well. Where were all these people earlier, right? I should be court-side, rink-side, at the 50-yard line for free simply based on how big of a fan I am, right? We should be way more concerned about a Christian who only owns that title on Sundays, or when they're with other Christians, or when it doesn't interfere with their life. After all, Jesus never called people to simply cheer for Him or be "on His side." Jesus always pursued worship of Him and lives that completely surrendered to what He commanded.
When there's a hurdle to jump over in your occupation, your family, your personal life, you do all you can to get the right help you need. Don't want to jump into Christianity? Don't know how to jump into Christianity? Take it up with the namesake of Christianity, Jesus Christ as He describes Christianity in Matthew 10:34-39. It's a little different than the "just get along and love everybody" vibe that people connect with Jesus, though it dovetails nicely with it.
The biggest hurdle to following Jesus? Denying yourself.
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