Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman Book Review

I just finished listening to Christian Audio's version of Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus by Kyle Idleman, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

Any time there is a book that seems to grab a measure of popularity, my tendency is to steer away from it. All it takes for me is seeing the rubber bracelets or the stickers or other paraphernalia in random places. No direct offense to the kids I saw wearing these bracelets, but honestly, before I knew this was the title of a Christian book, I thought that "not a fan" had something to do with getting off the bench at a sporting event. (i.e. I wasn't noticing a correlation between bracelet wearers and students who were obviously followers of Jesus Christ.)

This perception of the book caused me to avoid listening to it for quite some time, but last week I finally started the book... and like I said, I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting shallow theology and some sensationalism, but what I found was actually quite targeted and convicting.

The premise of the book is the challenge of whether or not you are a follower of Jesus Christ, or simply a fan of Jesus Christ. It seems in scripture, once you do some digging (or just actual reading) there is a difference between a fan and a follower. Kyle Idleman starts by defining the differences, but then he begins to unwrap these differences and examine what these differences would look like in your day to day life. With each new chapter and the stories that followed, I found myself being challenged and wondering who I could share this book with. I am considering using this book as a guide in a Sunday School Class or an evening Bible/Book study.

If you have not read (or listened to) this book, then I want to highly recommend it to you. I especially enjoyed the audio book because it was read by the author. He did a wonderful job both writing and reading his book.

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Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it: his bottle, his mother's attention, his playmate's toys, his uncle's watch, or whatever. Deny him these and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He's dirty, he has no morals, no knowledge, no developed skills. This means that all children, not just certain children but all children, are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free reign to their impulsive actions to satisfy each want, every child would grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, a rapist.

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