Fear...

The word surprisingly has little meaning in our culture despite its presence. By culture I mean the so called Christian culture. We tend to take this truth for granted because it is not a comforting subject. Fear permeates through our every actions without anyone every noticing. For example lets say a child disobeys their parent for not doing their homework resulting in the child's punishment. The next day the parent notices the child completing his assignments with great fervor. What happened here is not some miracle boost resulting in the child's new found work ethic but an attempt to appease wrath. Which leads me to what I've always pondered... is fear justified in the face of wrath or peer pressure? I answer this as a simple no.

Nowhere in Scriptures is it indicated that we should fear one another. I would like to mention a fellow blogger post (Emily Wood: Fear of God vs Fear of Man) summarized what fear of man means, "Who you fear is essentially translates to who you worship". The passage that she provided was from John 12:42-43 which talks about how the Pharisees feared other people's opinions of them, sounds familiar eh? By fearing people you are telling God that they deserve attention rather than Him. Let us not forget that He is a jealous God, who is more than worthy of our praise. So in essence fear actually can be linked to idolatry and who hasn't committed that sin? By placing an individual or group above God you attack and disobey the Creator. What I'm trying to say is that fear of man is a sin.

Those of whom are reading this may say duh yet their actions prove otherwise. You've heard it before "Fear is necessary". In a sense they are right for no one can properly worship and please God without fearing Him, yet they are wrong when it comes to fearing man. The cynic/skeptic then shouts out, "then what about paying bills on time or fear of certain death"? I would simply quote what Scripture points out for paying bills on time, Matthew 22:21 and Matthew 6:25-34. For certain death there is this passage 2 Timothy 4:7 and Phillipians 1:21 which Paul clearly demonstrates the fear of God. Lastly is fear a necessary survival tool as the naturalist claim, I would say yes because the best survivialist is one who pleases God.

Grace be to all of you,

-Samuel Grey
Producer of Generic Music Group