Skip to main content

What the One Who Fears Needs

             Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, and to the younger men as brothers, to the older women as mothers, and to the younger women as sisters, in all purity. (I Timothy 5:1-2) 

            Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. (Romans 12:14-16)

 

            We’ve been looking at fear in ourselves for a good part of the week. Now it’s time to take a moment to turn the focus outward. Many years ago, I admitted my fear of spiders to a group of older women, who proceeded to rebuke me for fearing spiders – or anything else. I don’t remember whether they actually questioned my Christianity, but their disapproval and rejection was clear. More recently, after I had mentioned my struggles in the same area with a coworker, she came toward me with her hands cupped together, and asked if I wanted to get over my fear of spiders.

            This is one of the concerns I have when someone suggests that we can and should live our lives without fear. Maybe we can. If we can, we should. But with possibilities too often comes bad behavior. We can; we should; if we don’t (or can’t) there’s something wrong with us. We’re sinful. We’re weak. The obvious solution is for those around us to either berate us into courage or burn out of fear by forcing us to face it until we become like them.

            Dallas Willard never suggested that this was acceptable. Paul made it clear that he would not think it acceptable. And while I didn't share any passages as proof, I'm just as certain Jesus would not. Surely, each would have declared that this sort of behavior was one of the things he didn’t mean. I agree with them. From what I have read and heard about them, they would never attack someone because they failed to live up to this “You can live without fear” proclamation. The person who is afraid needs prayer, not persecution.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more