Fear, Fear Everywhere!

“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.  Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.  Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” - Luke 12:22-26

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." - Yoda

There is so much fear out there! Fear of the environment, health, rights, the economy, war, personal/family protection, identity, religion, and the list goes on. Fear can be a good thing. You certainly want to look both ways before crossing the street or not touch a poisonous snake. We can use fear to create change, gathering for a common cause against the thing that a group collectively fears. If there is a humanitarian or environmental crisis, then fear can bring people to action to help in their needs. If there is injustice, then we can gather a crowd to bring justice.

Fear can also be used to do terrible things. Fear is what started the Second World War when the Nazi party convinced the country that the world itself is a threat, especially the Jewish people. Fear can be in reaction to something that is untrue, used to manipulate facts in order to achieve a goal. It can keep us safe, but can be what put us into danger in the first place. This is one complicated emotion! But fear itself is not the primary emotion that drives the person, but the response to something bigger.

If you love your child and you see him/her in a situation that could cause harm, then fear would be a normal response. People respond with fear when something that they love is in pain, distress, or any form of harm. This is also true when we protect ourselves, since we love us most of all. But when can fear grow into something unhealthy? Imagine the same parent, but they always follow the child around making sure that they will never come to harm. They fight off every opportunity that could possibly hurt them. Fear has gone beyond love, the child has become an idol.

Idols are anything that you love above, or instead of God. It is something that you believe that you cannot live without, that you must protect at all costs. Idols are everywhere and in any form. Money, power, family, popularity, freedom, time, entertainment, sex, music, individuality, intelligence, country, and so many other things can be an idol. Fear reveals those idols to us.

For instance, Matthew 19 and Luke 18 revealed an idol when Jesus tells the rich man to sell all of his belongings and follow Him. He was afraid to give away what he possessed, choosing to love the idol of things rather than the restoration of God from them. If giving away everything you own brings fear to your heart, then money or possessions may be an idol.

The reason God shows us our idols is not to say that this is something that we do not need, but reveals our inability to accept that it is something that is God's control. Fear is not trusting the one who holds everything in His hands (2 Tim 1:7, Phil 4:6-7, 1 John 4:18, Rom 8:15). We fear because we cannot lose control of something that we love. This is hard, very hard. But this is necessary. Unfounded or idolatrous fears can cause several harmful effects:

1. It takes glory away from God. What if you accomplish what your fear drove you to do? What if you protect your child from every kind of evil, every bad thing that could have affected them. Who, or what, gets the glory? And even if your are successful, what makes you think that you have accomplished what you set out to accomplish? What if God brings glory to Himself through those trials and pain, like He so often does? We cannot depend on our strength, wisdom, or abilities to do what God alone has control over.

This includes following other idols. If you look for the answer in a person, group, party, family, denomination, law, or any other solution outside of Christ, then you are stripping out the true transformational source. These solutions can not only fail in their purpose, but corrupts the Gospel and prevents us from giving it all to God, as idols often do.

2. It can create false enemies. Trying to define the enemy is hard for anyone, especially when fear is involved. When we are filled with fear we fail to see the real cause of the brokenness. We especially fail to see God's place in it. Why did I lose my job? It was because of the foreigners! We need to get rid of them! Is that scriptural? God loves the foreigner (Lev 19:33-34, 19:34, Lev 19:34, Exo 23:9, 22:32, Heb 13:2). There could be many reasons. Maybe that is not where God wants you, maybe your job is an idol, maybe the job would have been bad for you, or you are bad at it.

The scriptures is chopped full of examples when Israel jumped ahead and did what they thought was right in that moment, only to be defeated. They had to trust God more than their response. They were the representatives of the Kingdom of God, as are all believers. Is our response to this world different than the world itself? Jesus lives in an upside-down kingdom and we should live as such. Not pushed around but our fears, but in our trust in God.

3. It can create the wrong response. Have you even been in a situation which caused you to wonder "What was I thinking!?!?"? You were filled with anger and you did something that was not logical. I certainly have. That is one reason why they tell you not to make a decision right after a major event. Emotion blinds us from seeing the logic, leading people into a "mob mentality". The human heart loves to follow idols, and can easily stir up the fear of losing them. They will take away your rights, they will destroy the environment and health, they will take your children, they will come in and take your jobs and bring in crime, they will turn this country into….. The list goes on.

4. We can end up compromising truth. We love to pick and choose our sins. It is easier to fight for the sins that we, or our culture, feel is evil rather than scripture. Scripture digs deep into our heart to find where we fall short, and does not cut corners. If followers of Christ work differently than this world, then we should not use the world to achieve the goals that Christ calls us to achieve.

We do not need to compromise one part of scripture for another. Is it right to prevent murder through hate? Jesus says they are one the same (1 John 3:15). Is it right to tell others that they have to obey laws that we do not follow ourselves? Even add more laws that are not in scripture? Is it right to claim you are compassionate, but pick and choose what that means? Or be compassionate in a prideful way?

5.  We corrupt the true Gospel. The ultimate cause of fear is sin. Think about it. When God created this world, he created it perfect. A world where we can live with the King of Kings, creator of this world. It was in our desire to be like God, so we took the fruit and ate, creating sin and death. This world is broken because of us! Since then we fight not to bring Glory to God, but to create a world in which we rule and reign because of the hardness of our hearts.

It was through Christ that the curse of sin was broken for all who have been born again through His Spirit. God himself has broken the chains and given us a new heart in which we can now trust in Him. Romans 8:15 (NASB) says:

"For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!'"

And through that trust we can step back and not use the tactics of this world, but live as the Savior lived and trust the results to Him alone. This may not seem logical, but much of what Jesus calls us to do is not. It is not logical to love our enemies and rejoice in those who persecute you or falsely accuse you? Rejoice! God desires this because it reflects our trust in God, the one who died for sinners like me, you, and them. And through the Spirit's transformation we can achieve this. 1 John 4:18 (NASB) says:

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love."

This was revealed in the Christ followers of the past. Does it make sense to run headfirst into a plague infested city? Is it normal to forgive the person that murdered your children and attend the funeral, praying for him? Would people believe you are strange if you gave away all of your belongings to support missionaries in our enemy-states? His people were imprisoned, tortured, crucified, burned alive, fed to lions, and much more, all while singing praises to the Redeemer. 

The call of Christ is radical. He laid down his life for the sins of the world and calls us to do the same. What do you fear to lose? Are you willing to lay it at the foot of the cross? Lay down your pride, rights, money, family, even your freedom and replace it with the rule of Christ. Loving God means trusting Him. As you Love God properly we can love others, and then ourselves, without creating more idols. Love again with a love only He can give. He is worth it.