Fear

Fear is a normal part of human existence. It is a survival mechanism that is built into our very core. In a dangerous situation, fear is often what can help us make a good decision, reducing or negating harmful repercussions of the danger. Fear helps us keep from getting hurt. Fear is natural and it is a good thing.

As children we need to be taught what to fear and what not to fear. We are not born with a list of what can and cannot hurt us. Childhood fears are often irrational. Kids are scared of monsters, the dark, the elderly and a host of too many thing to list, however these fears most often have no basis in reality. On the flip side, teenagers often don't have enough fear, are reckless and take stupid risks. This irrational lack of fear shares a common element with childhood fears in that it has no basis in reality.

Children and teenagers are both more interested in what they believe that what is true, and they build their fear, or lack thereof, on their own perception instead of reality. It's often not until reality intrudes into their make-believe that they are forced to deal with the truth and see things for what they truly are. Yes, children do grow out of their fears and teenagers do eventually learn proper fear, but sometimes it takes a tragedy for our young people to incorporate understanding into their view of the world and of themselves. Adults who have experience with remorse and loss have far less difficulty knowing what to fear and what not to fear.

Fear is something you learn, something that can be taught. Herein lies one great problem with fear. People will use fear to their own advantage. Fear can be a tool of domination in any situation where one person is over another. Whether it is a parent with a child, a boss with an employee or a ruler with a nation, fear can be used to gain the advantage over another person, to control that person. Frightening people into doing what you want is not a hallmark of benevolent leadership. Using fear is the equivalent of a threat, just more subtle and perhaps more devious.

Those who would employ fear in this way may not have terrible motives, but even if their motives are pure, their methods leave much to be desired, and more often than not this is not the case. A boss might threaten discipline or termination to an employee to gain an unfair advantage over them. A parent may find themselves reduced to using fear to get their child to behave. Using fear this way does not leave the recipient of that fear with a feeling that the other person has their best interest in mind and this should be the case, especially in a loving relationship like that of a parent and child or a husband with a wife. For a while it may seem that fear is doing precisely the job it was intended to, but eventually it ends up warping both individuals, the one who uses fear and the one who is the target of that fear. Using fear in this way is not healthy for anyone.

People have a breaking point at which their anger and resentment outweigh their fear and they rebel against authority. At this point intentions are irrelevant and all that matters now is that the method, fear, will no longer be tolerated. Regardless of the outcome the person will break through this yoke of bondage that was placed on them and fight against it. Sometimes the relationship can be saved, but this is not always the case and never without reconciliation. Additionally, once a person has had to fight for their freedom this way, they are conditioned to fight, and it becomes harder for them to accept a legitimate form of authority.

When authority is built on a foundation of fear, that authority crumbles when the fear is removed. When a leader leads with fear, when they no longer are feared, they no longer lead. When this erosion inevitably begins, what often happens is that person will try to hold on to their authority and focus on that so much that they are revealed to be more interested in control than in truly leading, and their authority bleeds away from all the faster.

Unfortunately the flip side of this is that someone who has been controlled through fear this way often finds it difficult to break out of this controlling type of situation. A nation that has known no other leadership other than tyranny will lash out when that leadership is deposed unless the leadership that replaces it is equally tyrannical. A person that has had one emotionally abusive relationship, if they are able to break out of it often find themselves moving into another abusive relationship, or a series of them. Perhaps most tragic example of this regards the relationship of a parent with a child. What happens most often in this case is that this emotional abuse is channeled into the next generation, and is perpetrated on another innocent child, or children. It is a damnable cycle that is difficult to break out of.

If you haven't quite caught up with me yet, I'm going to be extremely clear in my next sentence. Using fear this way is abuse, plain and simple.

My point in presenting fear to you in this way is to point out that our lives should not be like this. We should not be oppressed by fear. However, there is a more insidious level of this that I haven't discussed yet. Religious fear.

All the things I've said about using fear to control people still applies in a religious setting, but there is another level to it that makes it more nefarious. When a religious leader uses fear to control, the recipient has been taught that to not allow himself to be controlled is rebellion or in other words, a sin. These people often are too afraid to stand up because their leader has taken a hostage, their soul, and is threatening eternal destruction if his demands are not met.

Why would you rise up against abusive authority if you have been taught that it is a sin to rebel against authority, any authority? How difficult would it be to live when you knew that you were the only one who felt this way because your leader told you that this was true and anyone else who actually did feel this way were also too scared to say anything about it too? Many are the quiet cries for understanding, love and help that are not only going unanswered, but also unspoken because the very people who have been called to care for the flocks have abdicated this responsibility and instead have held the flock in check through fear.

Jesus asked Simon Peter three times in John if he loved Him. When he answered, yes Lord, you know I love you, Jesus replied "Keep my sheep in check." (John 21:15-17) Of course He didn't say something so foolish; He said "Feed my sheep". A shepherd who does not care for the sheep does not love the sheep and therefore is not a good shepherd.

I've heard it said that God uses the shepherds as His conduit to speak to His sheep. This is true, but it is not exclusive. It is also not inclusive of those who take it upon themselves to be more than a conduit of God. It is God's responsibility to convict, not man's, and any man who would take this upon themselves steps in between God and man (1 Tim 2:5). These people have taken on the roll of Christ. I find those who abuse their position in the Kingdom of God this way to be an abomination.

Should we submit ourselves to people posing as Godly authority when they are not? I will not rebel against Godly authority and do not have a problem with submitting myself and supporting proper authority. Certainly Heb 13:17 isn't talking about submitting to an impostor. No instead it tells us to submit to those who watch over our souls, not watch out for themselves. I may not outwardly rebel against such a man, but neither will I submit to him; I will not suffer false leadership. I claim Jesus Christ as my ultimate authority, and if any man makes himself to be more than simply a vessel for Christ's authority, he is usurping Christ's authority. No man can take the place of Christ in my life.

Now I do want to make clear that I set a big division separating the man from the fear. While I will never let myself be controlled through fear this way, I will forgive the man who does so when he repents. I may never support that man's "ministry" but I can still love the man. To do otherwise would be to continue resenting a situation that no longer exists, and is symptomatic of delusion.

I want to wrap up this by talking about fools and quoting a scripture. I looked up a quote and was kinda surprised to find that it came from the movie Star Wars, but it is a good quote, so I'll still use it anyway. "Who's the more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?" Don't fool yourself into believing that it is right to follow a man who you know is wrong simply because of a position that he holds. Instead, let your attitude and mind always be to do what is right and submit yourself to Jesus.

Brothers and Sister, if you are living in this kind of oppressive situation I'm speaking to you right now. You don't have to live this way. Don't be fooled, God doesn't use fear to control us and anyone who would isn't operating through Him when he does. Paul told Timothy this very same thing in 2 Tim 1:7 when he said "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." This is your key my friend to combating fear. "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim 1:13). In fact, read the rest of 2 Timothy if you are interested in seeing the proper way for a shepherd to feed the sheep.

I write because I feel that your burden has been laid on my heart and I feel for you. It may not be much, but when you shed a tear, you're not alone. I'm praying for you and will continue to do so, always. Never forget that you are not alone. Run to Jesus when you have been torn down and He will comfort you.

Fear not.