After answering hospital phones: one last thought on Jesus' warnings about Hell

I hold a second job to provide medical coverage for my family. Some of my hours are spent at a hospital's telephone switchboard.

Part of that job is to sound various alarms as quickly and accurately as possible. Some are the difference between life and death.

We can wish that life didn't have respiratory failures, or traumatic accidents, or fires, or any number of other harsh and deadly realities. But we are rightly angered if they are ignored by those who could reverse, temper or prevent the harm they bring.

We can wish, or hope, or firmly believe that there is no eternal reward or punishment for the human being. But we should be incredulous of those who assert belief in a teacher of eternity and do not sound the alarms he embedded in his message.

If a nurse asked for a certain emergency code to be called, and I didn't call it because I wanted to try out prayer or "positive thinking" or something other than paging the right personnel right away, the hospital would fire me, the victimized people would rightly sue me, and there might even be criminal charges for failing to take reasonable action.

What consequences await those who preach in Jesus' name while hiding his most urgent warnings?