‘Fear’ is an emotion which every one of us has. When does one feel fearful? Some of the situations can be as below:
When one is facing an impending danger, evil or pain, one may feel a distressing emotion, whether the threat is real or imagined.
When one is in a specific instance such as when faced with an abnormal fear of heights. This is what we called “acrophobia.”
When one has an anxiety or concern like a fear for someone’s safety.
When there is something which one is afraid of, like a feeling of dread or apprehension. Cancer is a common fear.
When one has an anticipation of the possibility that something unpleasant will occur.
When one has a reverential awe, especially towards God.
(References from Dictionary.com)
In today’s context, the fear of God seems to have gone out of style in the church. Is the fear of God still relevant to us in the 21st century? What has the Bible said about the fear of God?
Jesus said; “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
The Apostle Peter said; “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.” (1 Peter 2:17)
The Hebrews writer said, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29)
In the book of Ecclesiastes 12:13, the wise man, Solomon, had experienced life’s pleasures yet concluded as follows:
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
The scriptures clearly teach that Christians should have the fear of God. Here I am referring to ‘a reverential awe towards God’. This mindset should not be simply dismissed. The fear of the Lord – the reverential awe of God – is still relevant to us today but it is so lacking in many of our lives and churches.
There are signs that we are missing the fear of God in church. The following are just a few of them:
1. Shallow or lack of seriousness towards God
How we talk about God, to God or for God is a good indicator of the level to which we revere Him.
Have we heard of someone saying very confidently that it is okay to miss worship in order to spend time with visiting relatives or friends on a Sunday as “after all, how often do they come visiting?” We may also hear that it is okay to take “leave” on Sunday to attend to personal matters as “God will understand” even though such matters could be done on another day. Really?
Have we not heard of how some people address God as “daddy” in prayers? Do we treat God like one of our buddies? Do we speak to Him flippantly?
Let us get serious with our attitude: God is not our buddy. We come before God with the fear (with reverence) of the Lord:
”The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” (Psalms 25:14).
We need to retain an awe of God; a sense of His holiness and majesty and an honour for His name.
2. Lack of respect for God’s Word
Do we compromise God’s word in our preaching or in the Bible classes?
The word of God is “God-breathed” and therefore must be respected (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Jesus said, “…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4).
Every word of the scripture comes from the mind of God.
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:20-21).
And thus we are not to tamper with it. ” For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10.
There is a lot of preaching today that is man-centred, watered down and compromised. We know what people want to hear and we preach to tickle their ears (2 Timothy 4:3). Many are afraid that their listeners will not want to come back if they preach certain truths, talk about sin or preach longer than 20 minutes.
In other words, preachers and teachers who do this lack the fear of the Lord. A person who practices this honours man more than Him. We need to get back to preaching the uncompromised Word of God. The whole counsel must be declared. (Acts 20:27).
3. Our Arrogant Attitude Towards Sin
Many have careless attitudes towards sin. The question which we have to ask ourselves is whether or not we still call sin as sin today. We often justify our sinful action by giving ourselves or others excuses. We may even brush off brethren who care enough to call us out on our sin. On the other hand, some will not take a stand in reproving the sinful acts of their close friends.
“Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.” (1 Timothy 5:20).
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” (Proverbs 8:13).
We need to understand the consequences of sin. (Romans 6:23). One result of the fear of God is that it keeps you from sinning. It brings a greater awareness of His presence in our life, and a readiness to obey His Word.
May we all continue to “fear God and keep His commandments!” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).