Fair-weather followers

Fair-weather followers - Greg Laurie - http://www.wnd.com/2016/07/fair-weather-followers/

 

Pastor Greg Laurie looks to Scripture to describe people who are not true believers

 

According to a December 2015 Gallup poll, 75 percent of Americans identify with a Christian religion. But I have to wonder how many Americans know what being a follower of Jesus really is.

 

When Jesus walked this earth, there were a lot of people who gathered around him and listened to what he had to say. But they were not true believers. They were there more for the entertainment factor or because a friend was listening. They didn't really understand the full implication of what it meant to be a believer.

 

Jesus had some very challenging words that he issued to what we might classify as fair-weather followers. After these people heard what Jesus really was asking of them, many of them turned away and left him en masse. But there also was a handful of true believers who did not desert Jesus.

 

He had recently performed his most popular miracle to date, the feeding of the 5,000. The people were gathered around him listening, and he wanted to feed them. He said to Philip, one of his disciples, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" (John 6:5 NIV). Philip said it would take more than half a year's salary to buy the food it would take to feed everyone.

 

Then Andrew, another disciple, said, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" (verse 9). The Lord took the loaves and fishes, blessed them, and multiplied them, and all the people not were only fed, but they also were stuffed, like how most of us feel on Thanksgiving Day. They weren't just full; they were really full.

 

This was one powerful miracle. The people probably were thinking, "Healing the sick is great. Raising the dead is fine. But when you start creating food - now we're talking."

 

The people wanted to make Jesus their king right then and there and were prepared to do so by force. So the Lord discharged his disciples. He got them out of there as quickly as he could because he knew this could destroy them spiritually. Then he left as well.

 

Meanwhile, the people woke up the next morning, and they were hungry. They were looking for that bread guy, Jesus, hoping for a repeat of that miracle. But he was nowhere to be found. They discovered that he had crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, so they went over to the other side and found the Lord.

 

They said, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" (verse 25).

 

Jesus told them, "Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval" (verses 26-27).

 

He was saying, "Let's cut to the chase. You are not here because you believe in me. You are here because your stomachs are growling, and you want breakfast. That is why you have come. Let's come right out front and deal with that."

 

Jesus knew they were hungry. But he didn't perform that miracle because he planned to do it every day. Rather, he wanted to demonstrate the power of God to show them how much God loved them. He didn't want them to make this the top priority of their lives.

 

It reminds me of a statement Jesus made in the Sermon on the Mount: "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:31-33). Notice, by the way, that Jesus said don't worry about food and clothing. He didn't say, "Don't think about it," "Don't work," or "Don't plan ahead for your needs." He simply said, "Do not worry."

 

Essentially, Jesus was telling the crowd, "I provided for you, but that is not what it is all about. I want to appeal to a deeper hunger inside of you. It is a hunger for meaning and purpose. It is a hunger for God Himself. I will satisfy the deepest hunger."

 

But these people weren't getting it. They replied, "What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat'" (John 6:30-31).

 

In other words, "You say you are the Son of God? Do a miracle. [Hint: Make breakfast for us.] While you're at it, we would like to try manna." That is what they were suggesting. They literally could not get off the track of wanting to eat.

 

What Jesus was doing was challenging the fair-weather followers to get serious. He was saying, "It's time to really be my follower. It's time to enter into the deepest fellowship with me that is possible. It's time to stop putting your needs above spiritual needs."

 

Do you know what they did? They said, in effect, "See ya. We're out of here." They left him that day.

 

They wanted him as their king, but on their own terms. They wanted God in their lives, but in a way where they still could be in control.

 

John tells us, "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 'You do not want to leave too, do you?' Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God'" (verses 66-68).

 

Here is the mark of true believers. They cannot quit. They may stumble. They may fall. Indeed they will sin. But they will not quit.