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Jim's Weekly PERSPECTIVEMay 11, 2015The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself. Franklin Delano Roosevelt 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. 1 John 4:18 (NKJV) What is the nature of fear as it is addressed in scripture? I’m going to share a few thoughts about fear as I understand it. My evangelist father-in-law, Earl Tyson, was fond of FDR, and Earl often would quote the famous line from Roosevelt’s first inauguration on March 4, 1933: “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Earl would go on to say, “Don’t ever make decisions based on fear.” That said, there is a plus side to fear when it is a Godly fear. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” is how the Psalmist (111) and one of the writers of Proverbs (ch.9, v.10) put it. That’s a healthy fear. It refers to an attitude of respectful awe, something that many in this present time would do well to acquire. Psalm 103:17 reads, “But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.” A healthy sense of fear/awe leads to a promise from God to give us, as well as the generations beyond ours, a heritage of his loving presence and the knowledge of God’s nature and of his ways. In Romans 8, Paul links the release from fear with sonship:
2 Timothy 1:7 also reminds us that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” The Spirit of God is as much about imparting mental clarity as any other aspect or attribute. And, for me, this is a big deal. The above listed verses are references to the positive side of fear. There is also a negative side. I have a relative who is a disciple of the Prosperity view of the Gospel, particularly as it relates to fear. This person quoted Job as having said, “That which I feared has come upon me….” (ch. 3, v. 25). Her “doctrine,” which stems from scripture, claimed that “whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). And while basically true, and though the verse from Job is a common experience for many people, I believe that the context of the Romans scripture does not apply here (Hang on. I’ll come back to that farther down). In any case, my relative thinks along the following lines: Premise A: Whatever is not of faith is sin. Premise B: Fear is not of faith. Conclusion C: Fear is sin. Therefore, because God punishes sin, he will punish one for being afraid. In this false premise/conclusion whatever one fears is met with punishment. In other words, not only does “that which I fear” come upon me when I petition God for something; something worse is “put on” me because I did not ask in faith (or with the “proper” faith). That’s on the dark side of the Prosperity Doctrine. The teaching holds that “you have what you say,” either good or bad. While in human experience there may be something to that, I believe the basic mind-set of the dark side of the Prosperity Doctrine is skewed. Strangely enough, though, I would bet that not just a few will be able to identify with Job, to whom it seemed that in asking for light, darkness comes instead. On the other hand, and in defense of a basic tenet/truth of the Prosperity Doctrine, I’ll grant you that we all know that a negative outlook (or, “negative confession” as the PD folks sometimes call it) has an adverse effect on the outcomes of our lives. The prime example would be the human body when disease and illness are involved. One’s positive outlook is crucial to the body’s well-being, and the entire medical community would wholeheartedly agree. But, if the “dark side” of Prosperity were true, when one asked God for healing, but had doubts or fear, then one’s worsening condition could or would be attributed to one’s “negative confession” and lack of faith. Ergo, if you’re sick, it’s your own fault. Furthermore, God ain’t gonna help you; He’s going to stick it to you instead. But remember that question asked by Jesus in Matthew 7 and Luke 11: “….if he (the child) asks for bread, will he (the father) give him a stone (or a snake or a scorpion) instead? If He did, then he would not be the God that I know and have experienced. Allow me to pick up here that thread from Romans 14. Paul is speaking of eating with a guilty conscience foods dedicated—or sacrificed—to other gods or idols. When he says that “one is condemned” when he eats “without faith,” he does not mean that God is “putting a death sentence” on the person. The sense is that one feels self-condemned (or guilty), and it is an all-too-familiar experience for most of us. We know what that is like. While this is a discussion on the feeling of guilt here, it is more about the sense of fear that accompanies guilt. In 1 John there is a passage that points up God’s response to “condemning” oneself:
The answer to fear is love. As stated at the head of this Perspective, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.” This seems to me to be a more accurate understanding of the Gospel, which is Good News, than the one my relative presented to me. Fear is a typical human emotion. It is not abnormal. The so-called “Fight or Flight” response is motivated by fear. The instinctive awareness of danger is linked to fear. When persons throughout the Bible encounter other-worldly beings, fear is often the initial reaction. No wonder angels often say to the persons meeting them, “Fear not.” There’s a pretty good reason for the need of such reassurance. Furthermore, after encountering a mystical/spiritual reality, if one were not afraid, we might well doubt the validity of the claim of having had the experience to begin with. We would wonder if there were something wrong with that person who does not exhibit or express fear. The above understanding—misunderstanding, actually—of punishment for fear is a denial of the nature and character of God, which is goodness and love. God wants us to know Him as a providential Father. Jesus, in the seventh chapter of Matthew’s gospel, says, “If you (earthly fathers), being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” I previously bought up the verse in which Jesus asks, “If he (the child) asks for a fish, he (the father) will not give him a snake, will he? Luke 11 relays the same story, but instead of “good gifts” or “what is good,” he says “the Holy Spirit.” In either case, what the Father is giving out is good. I cannot imagine God giving the “not good” in place of the “good.” In the Sermon on the Mount (chapter 6), Jesus encourages (admonishes?) us to “seek first the things of the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,” and he declares that “your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” This word, on God’s end, is about the Father’s compassionate knowledge of, and feeling for, our needs. On our end this is about our comprehending and acting on what our truest need is. It is about prioritizing and putting first things first: the seeking of the Mind and Will of God. The rest of that verse is, “and all these things shall be added to you.” That’s a good thing. And that suggests to me that God desires to act on my behalf whether I can believe it or not. It also suggests that not only does God know what good things I need even if I myself do not know, he sometimes sends or gives me good things that I don’t know I need, and don’t have the presence of mind to ask for. And, yes, I make this audacious claim in the full awareness that in the book of James we are told, “You have not because you ask not.” But that’s true as well. Do you think that God cares if you are afraid, or if you express it? Even if you don’t dare allow yourself to give voice to it, would you suppose that God doesn’t already know that you are afraid? There is a line in Shakespeare’s Henry V (the details don’t matter): “If you hide the crown (an emissary says to the French king) even in your hearts there he (Henry) will rake for it.” That, to me, was always a chilling image. Whatever one hides in one’s heart, the rightful King (God) will come and “rake for it.” I think many people believe that about God. He is on the prowl and looking to rake out ungodly attitudes in his children. The truer reality is that he invites and encourages us in so many places: “Don’t be anxious;” “Don’t worry;” “Don’t be afraid;” “Don’t be faithless;” “Trust in the Lord, and lean not unto your own understanding.” When Jesus says, “Men ought always to pray and not to faint,” that is a comforting word, not a foreboding word. Even should he rebuke us for our unbelief as he rebuked his early followers, he nonetheless feels for us in our faithlessness. While bailing water on a sinking boat in the midst of a storm, the disciples cried out in fear to Jesus, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” Although he expressed exasperation with their unbelief, he still acted on their behalf. He “knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). God understands. It is OK to be afraid. However, it is not OK to base one’s decisions or expected outcomes on one’s fear. I think that most of us would admit that the majority of things—if actually any of them—we feared would happen, in the end don’t happen. We simply wasted a lot of energy pondering things that never take place. As FDR put it so well, the only thing we really have to fear, is fear itself. So, fear not. - Jim Radford |
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©2013 Jim Radford. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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