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This episode finds John and Gregg discussing Chapter Eleven from Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. Gregg begins by agreeing with Idleman’s view that crucifixion was ultimately humiliating. Specifically, the importance of ‘honour and shame’ in 1st century Palestine means that crucifixion not only results in a grueling death but also completely abases and discredits the victim.

Yet where Idleman argues that we can’t really be “taking up a cross” unless we experience suffering and loss, Gregg objects.  First, the cross’ ultimate significance in terms of suffering is in how God reverses false expectations (i.e., the peoples’ political expectations for Jesus and the notion that public suffering is dishonourable) in favour of correct expectations: Jesus is actually glorified by God because, as messiah, he meets God’s expectations about / for God’s kingdom!

Second, Gregg insists that understanding how to interpret what “suffering” means today requires understanding the 1st century context (where, for example, “carrying a cross” had not only physical and psychic implications but huge social cost).  So Gregg proposes that cross-carrying means today “embracing the way of Christ,” which has two key implications.

On the one hand, it means following Christ’s (and the Bible’s) top priorities: loving God entirely, loving ourselves rightly, loving others likewise, and having the law “written upon one’s heart.”

On the other hand, it  means being aware each day that, relative to the value of the kingdom of God, the things that we think are of greatest worth (social standing and values, and even our lives) are as nothing.  The result could be hard choices that entail hardship, which may or may not include physical suffering or shame.  Suffering or shame is an outcome not something to be pursued as an end.

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In this episode John and Gregg return to Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman and discuss Chapter Ten.  John questions Idleman’s chapter-ending story where following Jesus equates to “giving up period.”  In turn, Gregg doubts this includes “giving up on church” or even “waiting on God,” a theme John sees nowhere in Idleman’s relentless message of “try harder” and, “you can never be committed enough.”

Gregg’s contention from the beginning has been that the underlying message of Not A Fan is misguided because it is driven from a foundation of misplaced priorities and ideas, namely this often cited section on page 21,

What if there really is a heaven and there really is a hell, and where I spend eternity comes down to this one question? …. As you read this book I hope you would at least consider that this may be the most important question you ever answer.  I believe the reason we were put on this earth is to answer this one question.

The right reason to be a Christian is to be in right relationship–a love relationship–with God, versus avoiding the punishment of hell or seeking the reward of heaven. To that end, Gregg wonders how Idleman experiences God’s love and why he does not mention it as a way of explaining his relationship with God.

Gregg notes additional places where Kyle Idleman’s exegesis is questionable and how Idelman never cites other biblical references that might contradict his position.  Gregg wonders if this is because Idleman is trying to validate a position that, in key ways, is at odds with the biblical message.  Gregg believes Idleman could build a stronger case for his message by testing his position against possible contradictory passages, in order to show how, in fact, they are not at odds.
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In this episode John and Gregg discuss Chapter Ten of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. John finds Idleman’s message repetitive and unconvincing. Gregg pushes things further: could it be that, instead of being poorly written or argued, this book actually proposes a view of Christianity that contradicts other aspects of Idleman’s own beliefs?

John sees Idleman’s assumptions about others’ behavior to be problematic and expresses greater dismay at Idleman’s suggestion that we relate to God by denying ourselves to the extent that we fail to acknowledge our own existence (p. 143)–a concept that fails a simple logic test.  How can we interact with ourselves or God if we don’t exist?

Gregg suggests that some of the book’s radical contortions like: 1) By sacrificing everything, God then loves us as sons and daughters (p. 153); or 2) The Bible’s highest calling for “followers” is to be slaves who deny ourselves and follow Jesus (p. 150) could result from Idleman’s attempt to maintain his contention that Christianity is all about where we spend eternity (Heaven or Hell, p. 21) while knowing, Gregg assumes, that the New Testament prioritizes loving God entirely, loving ourselves rightly, and loving others likewise.

So Gregg emphasizes that God is already seeking us–already desirous of us.  Nor are we dealing with a “problem of sin,” but rather a lack of proper relationship, which God is constantly trying to mend.  And key to mending this relationship is having a deep, experiential awareness of God’s love so that we relate to God both in a way that works and that makes sense.  In this way embracing our deep, deep value to God through this love relationship is an intrinsic reality that should effect how Christians carry themselves in all of their relations.

Gregg also couples Joseph LeDoux‘s neuroscientific view that emotions (like love) are not choices but are instead responses that motivate future behavior with the view that some people should be “fans” because they don’t have what is required to embrace God fully–and that is perfectly okay.  So instead of coercing people to love God, why doesn’t Idleman focus on: a) what it means for God’s love to be real; b) the modes whereby God presents God’s love to us; and c) how Idleman has been personally impacted by God’s love?

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This episode looks at Chapter Nine of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. We start with John’s confusion and discomfort with the amount of “shoulds” and how following Jesus seems to be defined as being crazy, misunderstood, and even hated.  John also observes Idleman’s continued emphasis on a Christian’s need to love and pursue God with no mention of what Gregg sees in the Bible and from his own experience–God pursuing and loving us.

Both John and Gregg are disappointed by Idleman’s continued lack of practical reasons or justification for why people would want to be a “follower.” Nor are there any experiential examples of what it means to have “the life that we can have in Jesus” (Idleman’s words).

Gregg sees Idleman’s understandings of love as dysfunctional (i.e. loving God so much that you hate everyone else, being self effacing in order to make room for the Holy Spirit, etc.) and notes that while Idleman explains love as passionate, he somehow misses the fact that love is deeply self-involving, in a manner that must be elicited.

In summary, a warped picture of God cannot be a reliable yardstick to measure how (and how well) we’re relating to God. Instead, Gregg argues that since Christianity is not a historical religion, we need and can expect tangible, experienceable connection to God’s love for us. Thus embarking on a relationship with God is built upon sufficient evidence, both to merit believing in God’s existence and in God truly loving me, acquired over time.