a little on fear

I read three things today that were linked (at least in my mind) by the word fear.

First I read a blog by a blind-guide I occasionally visit to get a glimpse into what goes on "on the other side". In a recent post, A Theology of Fear, he wrote the following based on a panel discussion from Advance 09.

Q: What ways do you council a young pastor to overcome their fear of man?
Piper: Grow like crazy in your fear of God. Be terrified of about God and his disapproval. Or to put it positively, fall in love with the supremacy of God and the sovereignty of God.

I get the idea that “Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.” (Prov 1:7) Fear is the starting point. It’s an orientation that aligns us to reality. God is the beginning point for reality. But we often miss that it’s the beginning…not the end. How can you love something you fear? The Gospel is the recognition of God’s love that draws us towards relationship, not something that keeps us growing in fear. Perfect love, or the awareness of God’s true response, cast out fear.

Note here that he fails to explore Scripture regarding the fear of the Lord and ignores the logic that the fear of the Lord must somehow be different than the fear that perfect love must cast out. But his error gets worse ...

What [sic] sad to me is that Piper’s idea creates and perpetuates wrath. It keeps people in a state of fear. Wrath is our manufactured and projected understanding of God’s response to something we’ve done. But it fails to see God’s response through the cross. This is largely what I was trying to get at but failed to do so adequately in this post. It’s this idea that we have to approach God from this stance that we are disapproved (unworthy). It’s this idea that God is never really approving of us. And I get why some hold onto this idea. Fear is an extremely powerful motivating force. But is it restorative in a continual state. I don’t think so. Largely because fear is a stress process on the body and cannot produce Shalom in its continued state.

What is interesting is that Piper seems to contradict himself (and I could be wrong about that) as he elaborates. He suggests we see ourselves as “with God”. The problem is that with God doesn’t grow your fear of God. It enhances your understanding of God’s love.

In contrast, and rightly, Easton's Bible Dictionary offers the following:

... in the Old Testament used as a designation of true piety (Prov. 1:7; Job 28:28; Ps. 19:9). It is a fear conjoined with love and hope, and is therefore not a slavish dread, but rather filial reverence. (Comp. Deut. 32:6; Hos. 11:1; Isa. 1:2; 63:16; 64:8.) God is called “the Fear of Isaac” (Gen. 31:42, 53), i.e., the God whom Isaac feared.

A holy fear is enjoined also in the New Testament as a preventive of carelessness in religion, and as an incentive to penitence (Matt. 10:28; 2 Cor. 5:11; 7:1; Phil. 2:12; Eph. 5:21; Heb. 12:28, 29).

And Harper's Bible Dictionary:

... the awe that a person ought to have before God (Prov. 5:7; Eccles. 12:13). As such it can be said to constitute ‘true religion’ (Ps. 34:11). This ‘fear of the Lord’ is represented by the ‘fear and trembling’ with which Paul exhorts the Philippians to work out their salvation (Phil. 2:12). It describes the piety of the growing church in Acts 9:31. However, it may also carry overtones of judgment (2 Cor. 5:11; 1 Pet. 1:17).

The blog author's confusion and false assumptions are based on his inability to grasp the Biblical beauty of God. Throughout his writings he recreates god and redefines love in an effort to deal with his own life's pains rather than to rely on the revealed Truth found in Scripture. Which moves me to the second thing I read and reposted. In this, Michael Patton I think successfully tries to paint an objective picture outlining the various views on election. Only one with a unregenerate heart seated in bias can read the Calvinist position and conclude fear and ugliness rather than freedom and beauty. That isn't to say I cannot allow for those that conclude other than Calvinism but to jump to the position of my fellow blogger above only reflects his failure to "have ears that hear".

And finally, a blog post by my friend and young-but-wise-man, Geoff Hill entitled Violence in Heaven. Whether his intention or not, it served me as a great reminder that our lives, if lived rightly, are to command a response. Either we will be despised and reject as our Lord, or the Gospel will be received and repentance and righteousness will follow. Our role is to ensure the only stumbling block is Christ crucified.

It is in that presentation that the wolves that have infiltrated the church will cry that we fail to love while they in-fact miss the true love (and beauty) found in the real Gospel presentation.

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