BOOK REVIEW - NOT A FAN BY KYLE IDLEMAN

  

Last Sunday, I posted a review for Alisa Childer's excellent book, Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity. I also posted that review on the Indianapolis Library's webpage. It then recommended five other books because I liked that one. The first book they mentioned was from the opposite view. But on the list is one I read back in 2014 that I'd recommend.

 My wife and I subscribe to the bi-weekly newspaper of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, which is where we learned of Not A Fan -- not surprising, since the pastor of the church, Kyle Idleman, is the author. His theme is whether you are a committed follower to Christ regardless what comes your way, or are you a fan who will be there when things are good but aren't willing to give everything up to follow Christ.

The strength of this book is it is based on Scripture. Idleman's premise is founded on Scripture: the first section on certain encounters with Jesus, the second looks at Christ's call to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him, and finally comparing our response with three would-be followers. Following most chapters is a story of a person to show what following Christ looks like.

I'm not speaking for Idleman himself, but the denomination he's affiliated with is more Arminian, believing one can lose their salvation. While the author might have that view, he doesn't mention it. The predominate theme of the negative reviews is that nobody will measure up to the standard Idleman lays out. The truth is if we're honest we can't meet God's standard while we live on earth. But I found this book an encouragement as well as a challenge -- while it highlights areas I can follow Him more, I also found areas of encouragement that I'm headed the right direction.

This book has been compared to David Platt's Radical; I'd make a case that it's more like John MacArthur's The Gospel According To Jesus, and Platt's Follow Me, since all these books are based on the Gospels. One difference with this book is that Idleman sprinkles plenty of humor there. You'll want to read his footnotes -- that's where he places some of his best jokes.

There are times we need an encouragement of God's unconditional love for us, but there are also times we need to examine ourselves, take spiritual inventory, and see if there's room for improvement. This is an excellent book for the latter.

This book came out in '11; have you read it yet? Also, are there times when God encouraged you to examine yourself, to see where you're at in the threefold command to deny self, take up your cross, and follow Jesus?