“Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”
You’ve heard that idiom, right?
Rarely in life is just missing the target something worth recognition. At work, almost completing the assignment isn’t completing it. Almost hitting the goal isn’t hitting it. Almost following through isn’t following through.
Almost is a place that we rarely want to be.
The danger of almost is that it rarely feels dangerous. Somewhere along the way, many of us learned to treat faith as private and work as public. We didn’t abandon our faith, after all. We were simply comfortable keeping it tucked away.
Consider King Agrippa.
In Acts 26, the imprisoned Paul gives his testimony in a direct appeal to the king. After hearing the story of God’s redemption and transformation in Paul’s life, Agrippa responds:
You almost persuade me to become a Christian
-Acts 26:28 (NKJV)
Paul laid the Gospel out directly for Agrippa. Agrippa knew the Scriptures, and he knew what Paul was saying. He was close enough for Paul to ask him, “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do.”
Yet Agrippa stopped short.
What strikes me is the contrast with Paul himself. Earlier in the same testimony, Paul describes his response to encountering Jesus:
I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
-Acts 26:19 (NKJV)
Paul didn’t just hear. He obeyed.
Where are you comfortable with “almost”?
Are you content with simply being a “nice” or “polite” person, thinking that’s the extent of your faith? Are you following Jesus at work, or are you simply a good person who happens to be a Christian?
We have to recover what Jesus actually meant when He said, “Follow Me.”
If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
Luke 9:23
There is a cost to discipleship. At work, that cost may look like telling the truth when it hurts your position, refusing a shortcut everyone else accepts, serving someone who can provide you no material benefit, or speaking about your faith when silence would’ve been easier.
Following Jesus will eventually cost you something you would rather keep.
And we have to be honest: “almost” can be appealing. It lets us keep Jesus close enough to feel faithful, but far enough away that He doesn’t disrupt anything.
But if Jesus is Lord of our lives, then He is Lord of our work, too.
King Agrippa heard the truth and stopped at almost. And honestly, we have the same question in front of us today:
Where have we decided that “almost” is good enough?
Let’s not add faith to the list with horseshoes and hand grenades.
The Better Word
- What part of your life have you been reluctant to fully surrender to Christ?
- Where should your commitment to Christ become more evident in the way you lead, speak, decide, or serve at work?
- What might openly following Jesus cost you right now, and are you willing to pay that cost?
