ML Satyan
Coimbatore, Jan. 31, 2025: During the inaugural session of CCBI’s 36th Plenary Assembly Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli urged India’s Latin rite bishops to become the followers of Christ and not just his fans.
Pope Francis sent a message to the CCBI: “Continue to be a sign of hope to the entire nation, always seeking to open wide your doors to welcome the poor and most vulnerable, so that all may have the hope of a better future.” This again is a call to become followers of Christ.
These calls are meant not only for the bishops but also for every Christian. Jesus never wanted fans but he always wanted followers. There is a big difference between the two – being a fan and being a follower.
Fans are comfortable. They create their own comfort zones and rarely come out of them. Followers are committed. They are always ready to sacrifice their comforts.
Fans are consumers. They keep consuming anything and everything whether it does good to them or not. Followers are contributors and they make constructive contributions wherever they are and in whatever they do.
Fans sit in the viewers’ gallery and watch and they are mere spectators. Followers are in the field playing their roles and they take an active participation in every constructive activity.
Fans are part-timers and they do many things for time-pass. Followers are full-timers and they work beyond time if needed.
Fans follow the crowd and they have a crowd-mentality. They just go with the crowd. Followers follow only Christ and his teachings.
Fans only listen to the word of God and remain passive. Followers practice the word of God and the teachings of Christ.
Fans live by their feelings and mostly swayed by their emotions. They are not rational since they remain emotional. Followers live by their faith and convictions. They are rational in their thinking and doing.
Fans only want blessings and become dependents. Followers embrace burdens and are willing to share the burden of others.
Fans always want to wear a crown and so they seek worldly pleasures, wealth, social status and power. Followers always carry the cross and they are always ready to undergo sufferings for the good of others.
Fans like to belong to a particular religion and follow its rules, regulations, ceremonies and rituals. They focus on caste, culture, language, rituals and ceremonies. Followers rise above religion, caste, colour, culture, language, rules, ceremonies and rituals. Followers look at the whole world as one joint-family (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam) and pray “Loka Samastha, Sukhino Bhavanthu” (May the entire universe ever be filled with peace, joy, love and light).
Fans focus on priesthood and priestly tradition – only a few people are called or selected as priests. Churches and various institutions are built and the priests become the caretakers of the buildings. The whole system becomes oppressive. Followers focus on prophetic call given to everyone. A person may be a priest after getting the so called ‘divine vocation’ and obtaining ‘academic degree’. But his illiterate parents can be prophets.
Fans focus on establishing ‘monuments’ (prestigious infrastructure) and become caretakers. Followers focus on ‘movement’. A movement does not require infrastructure. For the followers, individual charism becomes very important.
Fans are often fanatics, self-centred, indifferent and ambitious. They become stagnant and do not grow. Followers are flexible, other-centred, get involved with the people and have a clear vision. They try to be original and creative always. They think, speak, live differently and become trend-setters.
Fans focus on competence – “I win and you lose” attitude. They crave for power, status and positions. The focus here is on ‘having’. Followers focus on “being” and on character.
Fans are autocrats, hypocrites and maintain a lot of secrecy. They are not transparent at all. Followers become democratic. They give importance to participatory leadership. They are also open, transparent and authentic.
Fans are orthodox and conservative. They are self-righteous, having “I am OK and you are not OK” attitude. They develop lot of guilt feelings and become pessimists. Followers are progressive. They give importance to self-realization or personal transformation and positive affirmation. They always have “I am OK and you are OK” attitude.
Fans focus on uniformity in matters of dress, rituals, ceremonies, rules and laws. Moreover, fans divide people in matters of religious beliefs, practices and worshipping places etc. Followers focus on pluralism and unite people. Pluralism is not tolerance of difference. It is acceptance, appreciation and promotion of difference.
In the Bible Jesus spoke about two paths. Being a fan is the broad path. Majority prefer this path as there are no challenges on this path. Being a follower is the narrow path. This path challenges our thoughts, words and actions constantly. This path fine-tunes our life at every level and ensures a mature growth.
A fan of Christ is not necessarily spiritual. However, there can be some exceptions. Likewise, all followers of Christ need not be religious. Jesus rejected religiosity which did not make people spiritual. He challenged the religious laws of his time and said, “Sabbath is for human and not human for Sabbath.” He made it clear that the last judgment will be based only on selfless love and service that followers adopt and not on religiosity of rituals that the fans adopt.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, we find that the Priest and the Levite gave priority to their religious tasks which they had to accomplish. They did not bother about the wounded traveller. They remained just fans. Jesus praised the Samaritan for his spiritual characteristics such as sensitivity, ability to respond, willingness to take risks and sincerity to his call. He was a follower.
It is time for us to introspect and see whether we are just fans of Jesus or his followers. Being a follower is the real challenge and the need of the hour. Do we want to be a fan or follower? The choice is ours.