Am I a follower of jesus, or simply a fan?

​There was a commercial back in the early 90s that I still hold as one of the greatest commercials ever. It was Gatorade's "If I could be like Mike" ad.

The commercial featured a bunch of kids dreaming of becoming Michael Jordan. Throughout it, there's a catchy tune playing. I love these words:

Sometimes I dream
That he is me
You've got to see that's how I dream to be
I dream I move, I dream I groove
Like Mike
If I could Be Like Mike

In this commercial, you see young kids trying to perfect their Micheal Jordan moves. They are trying to master his shot and his dribble and his fierce passion for becoming the best in the game.

You can see it burning in these kids' eyes - they truly want to be LIKE Mike.

I read something in a book this week that's forced me to ask myself the question: Am I a follower of Jesus, or simply a fan.

In other words, do I want to buy a pair of Air Jesus sandals, show them off to my buddies and then call it a day - or do I want to slip them on and do eveything I can to become LIKE Jesus?

You know, like Mike, Jesus had some moves. He makes it easy to get lured into fandom. He had that whole healing thing going on - the water to wine - and let's not forget his patented lame man walking move.

Mike had nothing on Jesus when it came to showing up big on game day.

And we haven't even mentioned the big day- Easter - right? The day Jesus stands up and walks out of his grave. Like, the dude said - I'd love to hang around, death, but I'm going back to living. Have a nice day....

You want to do something to make people big fans? Help them believe their inevitable deaths will be inevitably temporary.

This morning, I find myself imagining the "If I could be like Jesus" commercial. I wonder what the kids would be doing in that commercial to show they are more than fans of Jesus - what would they be doing to show they dream of Jesus being them?

Would it be a commercial showing kids loving their enemies?

Would it be a commercial showing kids saying I'm sorry instead of throwing punches?

Would it be a commercial of kids walking hand in hand with historically oppressed kids through historically oppressed neighborhoods?

Would it be a commercial of kids handing over their gatorade to a kid they know hasn't had a drink in weeks?

And in the background, would the jingle be playing...

Sometimes I dream
That he is me
You've got to see that's how I dream to be
I dream I move, I dream I groove
Like Jesus
If I could Be Like Jesus

Easter is coming. We have some time to reflect. This Easter, will we celebrate Jesus like we're big fans?

Or we celebrate Jesus like we're big followers, like we dream he is us?