Not a fan

Maybe you should be

Back in 2016, I bought a book called “Not A Fan” by Kyle Idleman. I’d read some of his other books and really enjoyed his perspective, I appreciated his message in this particular book.

In it, Idleman basically asks whether someone is a true follower of Jesus or just a “fan.” He suggests that many churches in America have gone from sanctuaries of worship where people come to be changed, to becoming like stadiums where “fans” go to watch, to cheer on others who are doing the work, and being entertained.

It’s a good book and makes a good point. I recommend it.

However, it also ignores the real-life benefits of fandom.

In the book “Fans Have More Friends,’’ authors Ben Valenta and David Sikorjak say studies show that fans who have favorite teams are twice as likely to be “very happy” compared with nonfans; are far more likely to feel known; and, in general, seem to live happier, more involved and active lives.

Being a fan acts as a social catalyst. Strangers become friends while watching games together or by attending concerts. Sharing your enthusiasm for something seems to overcome social, economic and even racial differences and creates bonds that otherwise would never have existed.

But does such connection last beyond the final horn or last encore? A 2021 study, “Does Sports Make People Happier, or Do Happy People Like More Sports,” published by the Journal of Sports Economics, found “a positive correlation between sports participation and reported life satisfaction.”

Arthur Brooks is a professor at Harvard University (among other things) who has made a specialty of researching happiness. He cites a 2017 study published by the American Psychological Institute that said “team identification makes life feel more meaningful by creating a sense of belonging.”

The nonprofit More in Common study on “Fans, Politics, and the Power of Sports” produced data that says sports fans are much better citizens. Compared to nonfans, fans are on average more likely to be registered to vote (92 percent vs. 75 percent), participate in local elections (64 percent vs. 35 percent), support democratic norms (73 percent vs. 53 percent), donate blood (29 percent vs. 12 percent), and donate to a place of worship (43 percent vs. 18 percent).

Looking at those studies, Brooks asks, “But friendship based on something as trivial as a shared identification with a sports team? Yes, according to no less an authority than Aristotle, who argued in his Nicomachean Ethics that deep friendship generally requires a shared activity motivated not by self-interest, but by a pure and innocent desire to enjoy the activity in communion. “Some men,” he wrote, “drink together, others gamble, others join in gymnastic exercises or hunting, others study philosophy together: in each case spending their days together in that which they like best of all things in life.” If Aristotle were alive today, I like to think he’d also include some men texting each other about shared spiritual concerns….”

Todd Rogers, another Harvard guy, has research previewed by Brooks where Rogers and co-author Audrey Feldman “conducted experiments on strangers who shared sports fandom but differed politically. They found that a common sports allegiance typically brings people together across ideological differences more effectively than shared race, religion, region of residence, or socioeconomic status,” Brooks said.

Ok, but what about those fans who riot after championships? The violence that too often breaks out after a big win? After the New York Knicks won the teams’ first NBA championship in 50-plus years, school buses were set on fire, several people were shot or stabbed, ten police officers were injured, and dozens of people were arrested. Brooks said in his studies, “we would call these instances empirical irregularities,” defined as a “deviation or anomaly in a pattern, process, or outcome that can be observed, measured, or verified through direct experience or experimentation — rather than being explained solely by theory or abstract reasoning (according to my quick Google search). In other words, these are the exceptions that get more attention rather than the rule.

More often, if you witness celebrations after a championship or interactions between people on their way out of concerts, you see a lack of political factions and religious division. It’s just people, watching their team or artist do something great, and causing people to interact and celebrate together and actually “like” each other.

It’s community.

I wonder what would happen if people who went to church – the people Idleman refers to as “fans” – actually became these kinds of fans. It’s not just wearing the t-shirt (plenty of Christians do that) or having bumper stickers on the car (again, I see that), but actively out there talking to each other, interacting with other people; people from other churches, finding what they have in common and overlooking differences in order to celebrate the commonalities.

I met a Black guy (I mention his race only because I’m white, an obvious potential barrier in a relationship) at a conference I attended who was from a city in another state, who it turned out we had very little in common from a social or even political perspective, but he was wearing a t-shirt that said, “If God is your father, you are my brother.” And we found that to be true, that our “sonship” overcame other differences.

Beyond that, the involvement that apparently goes along with being a fan - being registered to vote, voting, participating in local government, giving generously – are all things that Christians in any country should do, to the extent they can.

Actually, according to Worldmetrics, weekly churchgoers are 25% more likely to vote than those who attend monthly or less, with 64% of Christian voters saying they feel more accountable to their faith community when they vote, and 81% supporting political role that reflects Christian values (there is no definition on how these voters define “Christian values”). Christian voters are 18% more likely to volunteer for a political campaign than the general population, according to a 2023 Bipartisan Policy Center study.

And as for generosity, giving to religious organizations (congregations, denominations, missionary societies, and religious media) remains America’s largest recipient of charitable giving. Overall, about 10 million tithers in the US donate $50 billion yearly to church and non-profits, according to Nonprofits Source in a 2021 report.

That being said, the statistical difference in being a fan of sports and a fan of church is not that far off.

Where I do agree with Idleman is wanting to see fans’ hearts change. He challenges Christians to stop cheering for Jesus and get in the game—to pursue an intimate, fully-committed relationship with Jesus with everything they have. That’s the real line between “fans” and “believers.”

But the real lesson here may be something else: when people get involved in something outside themselves, they are happier, more actively engaged, better friends and neighbors and citizens. Psychology Today has had reams of articles on this, how what they call “collective effervescence” – people uniting in a common purpose – fosters a sense of unity. It’s been proven to calm nervous systems and strengthen bonds, reducing feelings of personal discrimination and feelings of isolation.

I’m not talking eternal destiny here. Certainly, I believe an active, seeking relationship with God is far healthier than going to a bar with a bunch of Bears’ fans and cheering on the team. (Although I can see how some might say the bar is more fun).

But I am in favor of people getting involved in something outside themselves, what Brooks called “a shared activity motivated not by self-interest, but by a pure and innocent desire to enjoy the activity in communion.” Anything that brings healthy interaction with others, creating a sense of belonging and reducing isolation, is a great antidote for one of the major problems in society today. In 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared loneliness and social isolation an epidemic, highlighting that it is far more than a mere emotional state — it poses significant health risks for individuals and society at large. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Harvard University research paper, about half of American adults reported experiencing loneliness, and the pandemic further intensified social disconnection.

The best solution? Intentional social connection.

A good start might just be by becoming a fan.