Facing Fear

It wasn't that long ago that I was visiting a friend's church and I heard an old familiar line. Its wording was not much changed from what I had heard from pulpits elsewhere. "A big reason we do not proclaim the Gospel is because of fear."

Fear.

Is that really the reason?

Fear, in this use, is the personification of "That Thing" which stands between what God's Word compels you do and your obedience to do it. Fear tends to crowd out so many other messages of the Gospel as told by Jesus. We find ourselves making wrong choices because of it. We too often dismiss our conscience because of it. We fill whole sections of bookstores with advice about it, yet we don't see Jesus giving long sermons about it. His instructions, in both the Old and New Testaments are simple: "Fear Not".

Jesus didn't begin long counseling sessions, or a prayer line for exorcism, He simply said "Fear Not."

Are Fear and its cure something different than what we have been taught? Is there a choice involved?

Two scriptures, often misapplied, give us insight.

The first one is 2 Timothy 1:7. (Taken from the Amplified version.)

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.
In being redeemed, one of the gifts we are given is the renewing of our mind. If we know who we are, -- or more properly whose we are -- we can learn to view our life through a new paradigm, and live our life with a new strength. This will grow proportionately to the replacing our old way of thinking with the one found in Scripture.

The Amplified translation was preferred here to demonstrate clearly the intended meaning of "spirit of fear". The spirit called timid at first, is the same spirit which is called well-balanced at the end. Notice that there are no references to "3rd party" spirits. The spirit described here is the spirit, or "self" of the person who has the qualities in question.

This verse has sometimes been taken to mean that some personality (or many) in the demonic host has the job of paralyzing people through fear. That is not the meaning of this text. Such a belief has resulted in many people looking for outside solutions to their fears (someone "better at praying", perhaps) for who knows how long, rather than conforming to the Word of God.

Parenthetically, suppose for a moment that there was a demonic element to fear. What then? Then you have the comfort of James. "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil. He must flee." (p.s. don't skip that first step.)

The other verse that can help us define our terms is 1 John 4:18 (New King James Version)
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
The cure to fear is not courage. The cure to fear is love.
Really. Think about a time when you were afraid. Why were you? There was the possibility of something "Bad" happening. Perhaps injury. Perhaps ridicule. Perhaps lost opportunity. There are many causes of fear.
Now think of someone who overcame fear. Athletes risk injury to win a championship. Some overcome stage-fright for the love of applause. Men regularly risk humiliation to catch the attention of a lady. Soldiers throw themselves on grenades to save the others in their unit. Little old ladies beat rottweilers with handbags to protect their grand-children.
In each of these cases, courage springs from love for something, and fear came from the possible loss of something loved.

What, then, is the real question:

Is it "What are you afraid of?" or "What do you love more?"

Will doing the "right thing", whatever it may be, impact something you love? Will it affect your money, leisure time, or comfort? Will it cost you the respect of someone? Impede advancement? Expose you to ridicule? Could you lose a friendship over it? Would you have to admit you're wrong?

Jesus wasn't kidding when He said Love is what the entire requirement of God hangs upon.

Luke 12 has some strong words.

First Jesus tells his disciples that there is a right and wrong sort of fear, and that they are to choose the right kind (Fear God).

He tells them plainly that making an enemy of man can cost you your life, but making an enemy of God costs you much more than that. (Again, have the right perspective on fear.)

What he says in verses 8 and 9 make those who only know God's love (to the exclusion of His other attributes) uncomfortable:
I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.
How could God do such a thing? Simple. To disown Him before men is to love men more than Him. This is love of the world. This is idolatry. This is a defining characteristic of those hostile to God.

"But wait," some would say, "the whole Church is like that! At least here, in the West." Perhaps so. If true, what more damning explanation of the weakness of the Church in our present generation is there than this: "We love something else more."

Is there something we, individually, love more than God? Then we need to admit our idolatry, and turn from it.

We need to repent, and once again seek Him who is worthy of our undivided loyalty.