Should We Fear God?

Each of us is afraid of something. I am afraid of heights. A few summers ago we roofed our old house and I was unable to go up and help. Maybe its more a fear of ladders. Or, maybe I am just afraid of hard work. In any event, it was very useful to have this fear a few summers ago.

Fear can be very helpful. The zebra who is not afraid of the lion is called lunch. Fear is entirely normal. It is perfectly understandable to experience fear between the medical tests and learning the results of medical tests. It is a scary world, to be sure. There seems to be a lot these days to be afraid of.

But should we be afraid of God? This is the question I have been pondering after driving by one of our local churches whose sign exclaimed “those who fear God do not have to fear anything else.” Now I am certain that this expression was meant as a comfort and with the best intentions and I am not quarrelling with the church. But the statement raises an interesting theological question and, I think, an important one. Should we fear God? Does God expect us to fear him? If so, what are the consequences of not fearing God? If we are not to fear God, what are the alternatives?

As always, the place to take such questions is the Bible. And not just bits of the bible, but as much of the Bible as we can manage. There are an abundance of choices for this subject from the Old Testament but I was drawn to a very familiar statement which is really at the heart of Old Testament wisdom literature. Proverbs 1: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

What does the proverb mean by “fear the Lord”? In the Old Testament this word, like many words, can mean one thing in one place and something different in another place. But by and large when the Old Testament talks about fear of the Lord—and nearly four-fifths of all references to fear in the Old Testament have God as the object—it means a combination of fear and awe, or reverence. To the Hebrew mind, God is awesome, mysterious. One cannot look upon God and live. The God of Isaac is referred to in various places as “the fear of Isaac”.

Which is not to say that the common understanding of fear is not also present. There are many references which mean pretty much to be afraid. The psalms are full of references to the this fear of the Lord as being a very healthy response.

And certainly in the Old Testament there is a lot to fear. Adam and Eve were fearful of God after they disobeyed and they had reason to, as they were cast out of paradise and saddled with painful punishments. God was angered by the behavior of human beings and sent a flood to wipe them out. Moses feared God after discovering that the people had molded a golden calf and the result of that episode was a great plague which God sent to the people on account of their sin. Throughout the narratives of Israel first in the time of the Judges through the story of the Kings God is constantly delivering Israel into the hands of their enemies because of this or that transgression. No wonder wisdom says to begin with fear of the Lord.

And clearly these ideas are still with us to this day. Whenever tragedy strikes, like the earthquake in Haiti, there will be people like Pat Robertson who see the vengeful hand of God. Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell raised a stir after 9/11 calling in God’s judgment on America. Behind such statements is clearly the theology that says that God is ever ready to do us harm if we are not doing exactly what God demands we do.

But how can this view be contemplated by anyone who has the Gospel implanted in his/her heart? And to be fair to the Old Testament, there are abundant passages of grace. God forgives, redeems, comforts, even regrets. It is in that light that the New Testament illumines the Old, or, that the Old Testament emerges into the New. But the place to start in the New Testament is, or course, with Jesus.

Or just before Jesus. Luke begins his nativity story with John the Baptist’s dad Zechariah. When Zechariah first heard that he and Elizabeth were going to have a son he was afraid. When Mary was visited by the angel she was perplexed. When the shepherds encountered the angels they were sore afraid. And in each instance the message was the same. Do not be afraid.

Throughout the Gospel narratives there are people in fear. There is the woman with the flow of blood who touches Jesus’ hem and is healed. She is afraid of Jesus but Jesus tells her that her faith has healed her. The leader of the synagogue whose child is dying is told “Do not fear, only believe” and his daughter is healed. The disciples see Jesus walking across the water and they are afraid and Jesus says, “Do not be afraid, it is I”.

Now there is one passage where Jesus says “I will warn you who to fear: fear him who has the authority to cast into hell.” (Luke 12:4-34) From this it would appear that Jesus is advocating a healthy fear of God. And yet when we look more closely at the context, Jesus is really contrasting this fear with the present earthly fear of authorities who have the power to kill indiscriminately. Further, Jesus says only two lines later: “Do not be afraid, you are of more value than many sparrows.”

In other words, Jesus is speaking rhetorically. Rather than fearing human authority, if you are going to fear someone, fear God, because only God is in control of your eternal destiny. Why waste your time being afraid of anything lesser than God? And here is where the church sign cozies up to the scripture. But Jesus quickly adds something which changes the complexion of this idea completely. If we fear anything it should be God, but we should not fear God because God places a great value on us. Jesus then goes on to caution against worry, talks about the ravens and the lilies of the field and culminates with the passage: Fear not little flock, for it is your father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

So we return to the question with which we began: Are we meant to fear God? Well certainly if “fear” is understood as a reverential awe, as an acknowledgement of the mystery and autonomy that is God, then surely this is a good disposition to hold. Yet I knew a man once who, thankfully, had no children, who gave me some parenting advice. He looked at me at said, “Pastor, you and I both know what it takes to be a parent—you have to give ‘em fear!” Apparently he was disturbed by the fact that the kids next door were a bit exuberant and he thought if they carried with them the fear of a good beating they might be less annoying.

Now if this is how we are to understand the fear of God then I think the New Testament witness discourages this. Now I don’t want to get sidetracked into debates about parenting and punishment and consequences etc because that is not really my point. My point is that Jesus exclusively tells people that God is not to be feared as the deliverer of punishment, he is to be loved and followed for he has in his grace given us the Kingdom of God.

The earliest New Testament witness to this is the Apostle Paul who writes frequently about this, especially in the letter to the Romans. Although Paul, being a human being, is not entirely consistent in his theology, he does amplify the point that in Christ we have been set free from the judgment of the law by the grace of God. And, being free from the burden of perfection under the law, we are free to respond in grace to the needs of the world. Can he put it more eloquently than he does in Romans 8 when he writes “nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”?

That seems pretty comprehensive—nothing in life or in death. And yet how often do we hear of the conditional love of God, which is why this topic is important.

Fear, properly understood, has its place. It protects the Zebra from being lunch and it protects us from wandering into a busy street without paying attention. Fear, properly understood, puts us in a good orientation to God as one who is majestic and awesome and yet personal to us in Christ. Fear, not properly used or managed, is a bad thing when it is used as a tool of manipulation by governments or churches or any other organization.

So fear not, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom. It is for this reason, and not out of fear, that when something goes wrong in the kingdom we rush to aid and support as we did in Haiti or we did in the gulf coast when hurricanes strike, or anywhere else locally or globally where people are in distress. This is our Father’s world and we are meant to tend it, build it, maintain justice within it. We do this not out of fear of condemnation but out of the joy of life in Jesus Christ. Remember, God sent his only son not to condemn the world, but so the world might be saved through him. Fear not.

Now, having said that, I am still not going up on the roof.