Is it is a sin to fear?

At a Justice For All conference, one of the leaders once asked everyone in the room to raise their hand if they believe in a lie. Nobody wanted to admit it at first, but after a while, every hand in the room was raised.  That’s because everybody knew that, in some aspect of their lives, they were believing some lie that made them behave like they did.

We all know we believe in lies.  The problem is that we’re not aware of it. If we knew which lies we were believing in, we wouldn’t believe them anymore!  That’s why it’s important to recognize the lies we’re believing in.

How do we make ourselves aware of lies?  By exposing ourselves to the truth.  If you want to find a counterfeit dollar, you’d do best to study a real dollar really well.  By becoming acquainted with the truth, we can expose lies for what they are, get them out of our lives, and replace them with truth so we can live in the way God designed us to live — the way that will be most fulfilling and joyful and satisfying.

How do we know what is true?  Well, since we know every human believes in lies, we humans are not too trustworthy, are we?  We can’t put 100% confidence in any other person, even if they’re a seemingly mature and good-natured person.  We’re too easily deceived.  It only makes logical sense that the one who created everything and who knows all things knows the truth completely and perfectly.

We can believe in lies about ourselves, others, our circumstances, and God.  most of the time, it’s a lie that involves size, or priority.  When we sin, we believer the lie that our own agenda is bigger or more important than God’s perfect and good agenda.  When we sin sexually, it’s because we believe that our own needs or desires are bigger than God’s power to keep us pure, or more important than our commitment to God and our current or future spouse.

But one of the most dangerous lies is fear.  Because fear is the belief in a lie involving size and priority of things in your life, it is an outright rebellion against the truth, whether from cowardice or ignorance.  But why is fear particularly scary?  Because fear is a double lie.

First, it convinces you that you’re helpless.  That your weakness is bigger than the strength of the Almighty God.  (How backwards is that!)

Second, it convinces you that it’s an okay thing to do because it causes you to play the victim.  When I’m afraid, it’s because something is scaring me.  I compare myself to a little child and a monster.  It makes me seem innocent.  This is also a lie, because I’m the farthest thing from innocent.  When we fear, it’s really a form of pride in disguise.  I start thinking that my understanding of the size or priority of things in the universe is bigger or more important than God’s understanding.

Just to give you a mental picture of how much higher God’s wisdom is than ours (Isaiah 55:9), check out this passage from the book of Job:

“Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place for gold that they refine.
Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted from the ore.
Man puts an end to darkness
and searches out to the farthest limit
the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
they are forgotten by travelers;
they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.
As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
Its stones are the place of sapphires,
and it has dust of gold.

“That path no bird of prey knows,
and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.
The proud beasts have not trodden it;
the lion has not passed over it.

“Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
and overturns mountains by the roots.
 He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every precious thing.
He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

When we fear anything besides God, we’re believing the lie that something is better than God.  Which automatically makes that thing our god, because it’s the most powerful thing in our lives, and it starts to control us, and we obey it.  That’s flat-out idolatry if I’ve ever seen it.

I heard a sermon this Sunday by a man named Jeff Morehead.  He said there are two types of fear:

1. The fear of God.
2. The fear of everything else.

You can’t do both at the same time.  They are mutually exclusive.  If you fear anything besides God or above God, then you do not fear God.  The fear of God is a respect for God.  When we fear something, like fire or snakes or public speaking or heights, we step away.  We give it space.  We respect it, because we know it can do dangerous things.  We know it’s powerful.  And we know that it’s more powerful that we are.

Do I treat God that way?  To be honest, I’m a control freak.  I do everything myself because I hold the philosophy that, if I don’t do it myself, nobody will.

But to believe that with my actions and my life means to believe that God is not growing in people.  But it is true that God is growing people in spiritual maturity.  It’s an undeniable truth.  And not only that, but God has promised to bring people into complete maturity:

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joybecause of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 1:4-7 (emphasis mine)

Another thing I get afraid of is confessing my sin to others.  This is something I’ve struggled with my whole life.  sin is shameful.  You don’t want to tell people about it.  But God commands us to (James 5:16).   I often keep myself from confessing my sin by using excuses like these:

“It’s not a problem anymore.  It’s in the past.  I don’t have to tell anybody because I don’t struggle with it.”

“It’s not that big of a deal.  With just God and me, we can handle it together.  He doesn’t want to use other people to help me.”

“I’m afraid to.  I’m not ready.  I need to wait a while longer first.  Maybe I’ll wait until I’m over this sin, and then I can tell my accountability partner.”

In dealing with sexual sins, or other things you can easily keep secret, these excuses are especially dangerous.  And they are merely another manifestation of my lust for control.  I want to control the way people see me.  I believe the lie that my reputation and ability to look righteous are more important than God’s command for me to confess my sins to others and ask them to pray for me so that I may be healed.  (Notice that the means God decided to use for healing includes both confession and prayer, not self-will or personal integrity.)  I am really nervous, but with God’s strength, I am going to confess my sins to my accountability partner this week, having hope that, once confessed, these sins will no longer have control over me.

Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  no one comes to the Father [the all-knowing creator] but through me” (John 14:6).  When we fear, when we believe in lies, we deny that Christ is the truth that alone will conquer the falsehoods, that He is the way for us to live our lives so that we may truly know what it means to have life.

There’s a really long list of things I’m afraid of.  We all share similar fears, because there are a lot of things Satan wants to keep us from courageously doing.  We can be afraid to serve others, to share the gospel, to subject ourselves to persecution about our faith, to stand up for justice in the political and social arenas.  These are all commands that we ought to willingly carry out in love for God and other people — exciting and adventurous and meaningful responsibilities we take up when we take up our crosses, when we take on the label of  “Christian,” or “Chirst-like person.”  What fears are holding back God’s power in your life?

Be honest with yourself and God.  Don’t be afraid to talk to Him – He says we can boldly approach his throne to receive mercy and grace when we are needy (Hebrews 4:16).  Take some time to pray over these fears and how they affect your thoughts and decisions, and write a list of your prevailing fears.  Pray for God to help you with these fears.  Admit to God that His power is bigger than your fears, His will is bigger than your unwillingness, his strength is bigger than your weakness, and that His good and perfect will is more important than any other task you’ve been given.  Repent of these fears as sin.  Share these fears with a believer whom you trust and who can commit to praying for you.

One last thing to remember is not to fear fear itself!  Don’t be discouraged if fear is controlling many parts of your life.  God is bigger!  Your Father in heaven wants you to rejoice in His strength, fixing your eyes on Him and His promises rather than all the places where you fail.  His power in your life will last forever, and He will finish the work He started in you.  All of your fears will pass away.  Choose to believe in His power in your life, and you will be saved from fear.