What is your lest?

Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. John 12:42

Jesus’ lived in a religious society. Religion was not only accepted, it was expected. Those who were learned in religious things were held in high regard by all. However, when Jesus showed up on the scene, with His “new” teachings, upsetting everyone’s apple cart, He was not accepted by the religious authorities. But our verse tells us that there were some who believed in Him. We need to think on that for a minute. These people were experts in Scripture and they knew that Jesus made claims to diety. And they believed in Him. They believed that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. Let that sink in for a minute. But they were secret disciples, afraid to identify with Jesus openly because He was unaccepted by their peers. Afraid to be known as His disciples lest they should be put out of the synagogue and lose their place in the current religious system.

The world that we live in today is not unfriendly to the religious, but it is increasingly intolerant of Christ followers. When the name of Jesus Christ is introduced into conversations, many times you can see a physical reaction in people. They don’t mind our religion, but they cannot tolerate our Christ.

For each of us who follows Christ, there will come a day when you are presented with a “lest” moment, when it will cost you something to be counted among His followers. It could mean the loss of position, loss of esteem of those you care about, or even a loss of possessions. What is the thing you are most afraid to lose? And if the loss of that thing was threatened for the sake of Christ would it cause you to hide your faith in Him and become a secret disciple? What is your lest?

When tomorrow doesn’t come

A couple of months ago a Hospice chaplain who attends my church gave me the name and number of a lady who had been in Hospice care and had partially recovered.  Rebecca required physical therapy and was not able to get around very well.  She had no family in town and had always welcomed the chaplain’s visits.  She was not hostile towards the gospel, but had not received Christ.  I was hopeful that I would be able to meet her, show her the love of Christ, and share the gospel with her.  We had several telephone conversations and I made several attempts to schedule a time to go visit her.  Each time, the plans had to be abandoned.   My life became a bit chaotic and I lost touch with Rebecca.  I thought about her occasionally, wondering how she was doing.  I’d make a mental note to get in touch with her and try again to go visit.  But life does have a tendency to get busy, and I forgot. 

At church Wednesday, this Hospice chaplain told me that Rebecca was in the hospital.  He said she was dying.  For some reason, it didn’t really sink in.   All the people he deals with are dying, and most of them suffer from some type of terminal illness and they linger for some time.  I made plans to go visit Rebecca in the hospital Friday after work.

I got a call Friday morning – Rebecca had died sometime during the night.  There was no indication that she had turned to Christ before her death.

This was a sobering reminder that tomorrow doesn’t always come.