The Fear of Disapproval

John 12:43 Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

Swimming against the tide, adopting a stance, say, that your friends, family, even society disagree with, is a very difficult thing to do. That’s why most people don’t do it.

Although it’s become somewhat trendy these days to hop on one of the many conspiracy bandwagons doing the rounds, taking a stand to do what’s right against things that are just plain wrong is a costly business indeed.

William Tyndale was burned at the stake in 1536 simply for translating the Bible from Latin into English. In 1972 Chinese evangelist Watchman Nee was martyred for telling people about Jesus. In fact, there’ve been more Christians martyred in the past century than for the whole 19 centuries before that.

There is, and always has been, a high price to pay for going against the flow. In fact, back in Jesus’ day …

John 12:43 … many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God. (NRSV)

And that’s it, isn’t it? Being more interested in what others think than in following our hearts to believe in Jesus, the easy road is simply to go with the flow, to believe in secret or just drift away from God altogether.

Sure, there are many around the world who have no choice but to believe in secret. But for the rest of us, if we give up on Jesus because of what others might think, it’s only because we love human glory and the short- term comfort it brings more than the glory that comes from God that’ll last for all eternity.

That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.