September Worship Series Links Superfans and Faith

I came across a blog entry by Dave Evans, "What Builds a Superfan?" While we may equate superfan with sporting events, painted faces and raucous cheers, Evans was writing about superfans of a product or service. His blog was directed at marketers who work to make fans and to get fans to use social media to push their products. The concept of seeing Superfans as the front line for marketing intrigued me.

Evans began by looking at the definition of Superfan: 1. A Superfan aligns with a brand or group (team, band, etc.) because of a shared passion, lifestyle or cause. 2. A Superfan has actual experiences with the brand or group that support his/her fan-dom. 3. A Superfan feels that being a fan of the brand or group improves his/her life. 4. A Superfan's passion can be easily shared with others.

I started to think about how this notion of a Superfan might be applied to the Christian life and to a passion for making disciples for Jesus Christ. Of course, the example of Christian Superfan that came to my mind was the Apostle Paul. Paul had a "vision" of Christ (at least he heard Christ's voice!) and it changed his life (Acts 9). Paul went from being an energetic persecutor of Christians to an "all in" believer. At great physical risk and in spite of persecution, Paul took the Good News of Jesus Christ to cities beyond Judea and Jerusalem. He taught in synagogues and preached in marketplaces. He planted churches in Asia Minor and Europe. Paul said of Christians, "We are fools for Christ". (1 Corinthians 4:10)

The Apostle Paul was a Superfan, the Ultimate Superfan.

I invite you to join us for our September worship series, "Superfan: The Ultimate Follower." We're going to look at the life and actions of "Superfan Paul" and ask, "What does it take to be a Superfan of Jesus?" On September 11, we'll look at how one crosses over from being a regular-everyday fan to a Superfan, and we'll ask, "Are we willing to cross over to be a Superfan of the faith?"

On September 18, we'll examine whether or not real-life experiences of the faith will transform us into Superfans and on September 25, we'll talk about how Superfans share what they know with others.

I look forward to having some fun with this series as we not only hear stories about the Superfan Paul, but about contemporary Superfans, some of them in our own congregation!