Are you a FAN or a FOLLOWER? What It Really Means to Be a Disciple

November 5, 2025• byMatt Ousdahl

The Great Commission (and What It Doesn’t Say)

In the last two verses of Matthew, Jesus gives His last command—our shared “co”-mission as the Church. What’s pretty simple on paper, proves hard to live out in reality:

“Go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19, NLT)

Notice what He doesn’t say.

He doesn’t say:

Go make church attendees.
Go make new converts.
Go and put butts in seats.
Go and find a bunch of people that like to sing really loud while their hands are in the air.

He says, “Make disciples.” And that’s a totally different command altoghether. A disciple isn’t just a fan of Jesus—a disciple is a follower of Jesus.

Fans vs. Followers

Here’s the deal… every church, including the church I pastor, has both. Fans like Jesus. Followers follow Jesus.

Fans think Jesus is a great teacher, a wonderful comforter, and a good example for others. They may have taken some serious steps of involvement, commitment, and even baptism. Followers, though, say, “Jesus, you’re Lord. You call the shots.”

Jesus defined it in Matthew 16:24–25:

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you’ll lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you’ll save it.”

This is not a cute bumper sticker—it’s a roadmap. In those two verses, Jesus gives us five marks of a disciple.

1. Desire

“If any of you wants to be my follower…”

God doesn’t force anyone to follow Him. (There won’t be a single person in Heaven against their will.) He loves you enough to give you a choice.

Psalm 42 describes that kind of desire:

“As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.”

That’s what it means to want Him—not just admire Him. Like a tall glass of ice water on a hot day, the Psalmist plucks the heartstrings of a natural desire that all have experienced—a thirst. God actually placed that longing inside you for Him. That empty place in your heart is a divine invitation to desire Him more.

2. Denial

“You must give up your own way…”

Every time you say “yes” to one thing, you say “no” to something else. Following Jesus means you get off the throne and let Him sit there instead.

Paul put it bluntly:

“You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)

Real discipleship is a declaration of dependence, not independence.

Saying “yes” to Jesus often means saying “no” to something else that seemed to be working fine.

When I left my marketing company to go into ministry, I had no clue where God was going to lead my family. But He said, “Follow me.” And when He says that, He doesn’t always tell you where the path leads—only that He’ll be there walking alongside you.

3. Death

“Take up your cross…”

That’s not poetic language. In Jesus’ time, crosses weren’t jewelry—they were execution tools. Experts estimate that during Jesus’ lifetime the Romans crucified over 30,000 people. “Taking up your cross” would have been heard in exactly that light!

He was saying, “Be willing to die.” For the early disciples, that wasn’t a metaphor. For us, it shouldn’t be either! And maybe you won’t ever have to give up your physical life for the cause of Christ, but it at least means dying to comfort, to pride, to self.

Baptism is the picture of that: buried with Christ, raised to new life. It’s amazing to me how many people claim they would be willing to die for Christ, but won’t take the initial step of obedience in baptism. Baptism is the starting point of a life surrendered to Jesus!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Let that be as serious as it sounds.

4. Devotion

“Follow me.”

In Jewish culture, a disciple didn’t just learn from a rabbi—they lived with the rabbi. They followed so closely that they’d literally be covered in the dust of his feet.

That’s the devotion Jesus is calling to—He want us to get His dust all over us!

“Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master.” (Matthew 10:25)

So the question is—are you following Jesus like a fan or a follower? A traveler or a tourist?

A traveling (from the word “travail”) takes serious devotion and work! A traveler immerses in a culture, learns the language, and lives the experience. A tourist, which literally means “one who spins in circles,” takes some pictures, buys a souvenir or two, and leaves unchanged.

Let’s not be tourists with Jesus!

5. Destiny

Following Jesus doesn’t lead to loss; it leads to life!

“If you try to hang on to your life, you’ll lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you’ll save it.” (Matthew 16:25)

Oh, the paradox! Surrender leads to freedom–an idea I would reject if I hadn’t experienced it for myself!

Missionary Jim Elliot said it best before becoming a martyr for the Gospel:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

When we talk about the marks of discipleships, Jim Elliot’s story makes an abstract concept more real.

In his late 20s, Jim and a small team of missionaries felt God call them to take the Gospel to an unreached tribal people group in Ecuador. They started with building trust: flying over the village and dropping gifts. Jim knew the risk. He knew that this tribe was historically violent toward outsiders. Still, he trusted Jesus’ words: “If you give up your life for my sake, you will save it” (Matthew 16:25, NLT).

On their first attempt to meet this tribe in-person, Jim and his teammates were killed before they every shared the name of Jesus.

He was twenty-nine.
A husband.
A father.

The world might call his efforts and life a loss. Heaven called it victory.

You see, discipleship’s math is different. Jim had already given up his life before he ever stepped onto that beach—he died to comfort, reputation, control, and even his safety. He had already decided to let Jesus sit on the throne in his place. And so, the story didn’t end there.

Jim’s wife, Elisabeth, refused to quit or let bitterness have the final word. She, and other missionary wives, continued to build trust and, over time, relationships formed. Eventually this tribal people heard the Gospel and lives were changed. Many in that tribe eventually came to faith in Christ—including some connected to the very attack that took Jim’s life.

This is what Jesus meant by destiny: the cross might looks like loss, but–because of Jesus–it leads to life (John 10:10, NLT). Jim “lost” what he could never keep and gained what he could never lose.

Fan or Follower?

Whenever Jesus saw big crowds following Him, He had a way of challenging their motives. “Eat my flesh and drink my blood,” He said once. And people walked away (see John 6:66).

Jesus wasn’t interested in gaining fans. He was calling followers.

So that leads us to an important question: Which are you?

Take a look at your calendar and your bank statement—two of the clearest mirrors of your priorities. If a jury had to decide based on your time and money, would there be enough evidence to convict you for being a follower of Jesus?

Fans admire. Followers obey.

So this week, let’s make it simple: