I’ve been in a couple of conversations recently about what it means to fear God. We fear God too much, and not enough. This week will be about fearing God too much.
We can fear God too much when we have the view that God is waiting for us to mess up so He can put the hammer down on us. We can be like the wicked lazy servant in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) who is so afraid of losing money, that he does nothing with it except bury it. We can be so afraid of God’s wrath, that we would rather do nothing than mess up. We become like the servant who will not risk in faith because of fear. The master even accepts the wicked servant’s charge and judges the servant accordingly.
I can think of times where someone was going through a tough situation, and I was afraid of encouraging them. My thoughts would go something like, “What if they misunderstand me? What if I say something stupid? What if I just get in the way?”, etc. My fear prevented my encouragement in situations where it probably would have been appreciated. I was more concerned about the possible reaction someone might have towards me instead of offering loving support to someone who needed it. I now know that for what it is: selfishness. I’m was so concerned about how they would react to me instead of offering the love, encouragement, and support they needed. My own fear of being taken the wrong way prevented me from doing what was right.
We can fear falling into sin so much and God’s wrath so much that we cease to live right. Instead of showing a sinner the way of the cross, we degrade her and avoid her in the name of purity so that we do not fall into the same sin, forgetting that the One inside us is stronger than the one in the world. Fear prevents us showing God’s love. Jesus was accused of being a glutton and drunkard, not because He did those things, but because He chose to love and spend time and preach the gospel to those who did.
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18
Fearing God does not mean being afraid of the security of our salvation, or being so afraid of doing the wrong thing that we do nothing. Faith is a risk, and weakness is strength in the Lord. We can’t live with the attitude of “If saved, barely saved.” If we are saved, we are completely saved by God’s grace. We are completely loved by God. His love drives out our fear.
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1 comment:
Great point. I am frequently guilty of letting my fear inhibit positive actions. It most often occurs when I feel the need to pray with someone. I believe prayer is always the right response, and I almost always feel the urge to pray with people when they come to me with a struggle or dilemma, but I probably follow through about half of the time or less.
On a separate note, I don't think Jesus was called a glutton and a drunkard solely because of his association with people who were. He was called a glutton and drunkard because he was a party-er. "For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' 34The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners."
At a different point he was asked why he didn't fast like John the Baptist. In his answer, he compared his ministry with a wedding feast...in other words, his ministry is like one long party. Setting the captives free, healing the sick, making the lame walk, opening the eyes of the blind, raising the dead, and yes, eating and drinking more than the standard rabbi
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