"Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go," said a would-be disciple to Jesus (Matthew 8:19). That's a good offer, you'd think, but Jesus discourages him: "Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but I have nowhere," he says. Someone else in this story in Matthew 8 says, "Let me first go and bury my father" (verse 21). "Let the dead bury their own dead," says Jesus; "You follow me."
That seems like a very harsh saying. It's sometimes pointed out that the man's father was probably still quite hale and hearty; he was asking to be able to secure his inheritance, and wouldn't have wanted to risk poverty by offending him or being cut out by other relatives. But even so, when Jesus said, "Let the dead bury their own dead," he was saying that there was a choice to be made: following him would cost everything, but it led to life, whereas staying put led nowhere.
We are uncomfortable with extremism today. It makes us think of jihadis plotting to commit atrocities such as those we've seen in Nice, Nigeria, Paris and Baghdad, among a myriad other places in recent months and years.
Moderation is supposed to be better; a "moderate Muslim", for instance, is someone who speaks up against terrorist fanatics.
But is moderation really what Jesus taught? Moderation implies a half-way house, neither one thing nor the other – middle-of-the-road, inoffensive, not really much different from the rest of society.
Moderates don't offend people.
Moderates fit in.
I'd be very offended to be called a moderate Christian. Jesus called his disciples to leave everything and follow him. There's nothing moderate about being a disciple of Jesus. As the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it: "When Jesus calls a man, he calls him to die."
That sort of language disturbs people. It's the language of total commitment, of extremism – fanaticism, even. Christians are people who are so convinced of the reality of God and the faithfulness of his promises that they will face martyrdom for him.
So how should we describe ourselves?
Let's take that word "fanatic", and let's imagine a football stadium full of people cheering on their team. It's a crucial game; perhaps they can win the league, or avoid relegation. All the supporters' hopes and dreams are riding on the outcome. They are totally identified with what's happening on the pitch. They are fanatical.
Or, as we abbreviate it, they're fans.
So how about reclaiming that word for faith and becoming fans of Jesus?
Anyone who's been to a big game knows that there's nothing moderate about it. It's hard to explain to an outsider, but it's much more than just a bit of fun. As Bill Shankly famously said: "Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that."
Christians are to be obsessive about Jesus. There's nothing moderate about our calling: following him isn't just a matter of life or death, it's much more serious than that.
Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
