Jesus Follower or Fan: Which Are You?
Hero Stories in Real Time
Make sure to listen to our 2022 Men in the Arena state of the ministry podcast. You will be blessed by what God has done in the lives of men and those they love.
We celebrated Jesus as we read testimonials and had several guests express their stories of life change live on air. It was amazing!
Follower Confusion
We live in a time when everyone seems to be following someone. But are they actual followers of simply fans who clicked a heart or thumb and keep scrolling?
This is nothing new.
In Luke 9:57-62, Jesus confronts three fans who mistakenly believed they are followers. Jesus tested by demanding they follow Him wherever he asks (57), whenever He asks (59-60), and to whomever, He asks (61-62).
Eleven Out of Twelve Ain’t Bad
How far will you go to follow Jesus? Following Him led to martyrdom for all but one of the Twelve! Here are some differences between fans and followers.
Fans take Followers give
Fans are passive Followers are active
Fans are anonymous Followers of known
Fans cheer Followers sweat
Fans are served Followers sacrifice
Fans get Followers give
Fans Love Stats
2022 was a great year for us.
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It was a year that our podcast became the #1 rated Podcast for Christian Men on Spotify, growing by 357% over 2021!
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It was a year that 1.5% of Americans (5-7 million) watched at least one of our teaching videos.
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It was a year in which we grew to nearly 150,000 weekly “followers” on all platforms.
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It was a year that reached people in 158 different countries.
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It was a year that our Instagram account grew by 577% and TikTok exploded from 0 to 78,000 “followers” in less than a year!
On a Shoestring
God did all this through six paid staff and a $289K annual budget. As a 501©3 unapologetically Christian organization, we rely heavily (85%) upon crowdfunding to support our mission to push back the darkness.
Our 2023 plan is to raise enough money to bring our Digital Marketing Consultant on full-time by summer. But we need our followers to help. Will you commit to making the transition from fan to a follower by doing one of two things?
- Join our Prayer Force by replyin “Sign me up for the Prayer Force” to info@meninthearena.org.
- Becoming a monthly financial champion and setting up your giving strategy here.
More to Come
Thank you to all our followers. Your reward is coming soon (Philippians 4:15-18).
Thank you also to all our fans, and I pray that you too will make the switch from fan to follower.
Let’s get after it this year!
