Evangelical Reformation

We tend to see fear in a totally negative light. As noted in our last message, fear can be a destructive emotion. However, the Bible asserts that some fear is necessary and beneficial. How so?

In Proverbs 1:7, Solomon teaches us, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.”

Consider the importance of knowledge to your life and wellbeing. If fear really is the fountainhead of knowledge, fear is of vital importance—it is a source of great blessing.

But what is the connection between fear and knowledge?

The relationship between the two begins with the unflattering reality that we are all inclined to pursue the various forms of self-gratification. John summarizes these as the lust of the flesh and eyes and the pride of life. We all crave the good feelings that stem from these sources.

Sometimes this gratification is legitimate. A good meal or making love with one’s spouse are God-given sources of pleasure.

However, we tend not to be satisfied with self-gratification only when God says it is okay. We desire it whenever we can get it. People tend to eat too much or desire pleasure from someone who is not their spouse, even it that entails an indiscrete analysis of the anatomy of an indiscrete NFL cheerleader.

Since God’s Word tells us where those boundaries are, why do we need fear to gain knowledge? We can get knowledge right out of the Bible, and we can also glean it from observing what does and does not work in life.

Well, that’s true as far as it goes. That is the way it should be. However, this does not consider the human malady cited above. The reality is that our thirst for gratification incites us to rationalize.

I can easily give you five reasons why I should eat that second piece of chocolate cake. The hostess made it especially for me, and I want her to know how much I appreciate it. Or the second coming may occur tomorrow, in which case I would have missed the opportunity needlessly. Etc.

If they sound like a stretch, I guarantee you that both of us have employed rationalizations more idiotic than those and really believed them to be valid at the time. And as time goes on those irrational rationalizations become well-established principles for living.

In other words, we have corrupted knowledge. We are guiding our lives based on lies devised by our rationalization and that of other people. Our favorite Bible teachers are those who can validate our rationalizations with Scripture.

This is where fear helps us. It keeps us from trifling with God’s Word. If we really believe that God deals severely with those who bend His teachings to enable self-gratification, we tend to be more honest with His Word. In other words, we develop a worldview based on genuine knowledge rather than self-serving lies.

In contemporary society, when Christians legitimize watching movies containing nudity or assert that it is okay to be angry with God, they manifest a lot of truth bending that reveals the absence of fear.

Though fear may be an unpleasant emotion, it would clear their heads, straighten out their worldviews, and save them a lot of trouble in the long run.

Next week’s topic addresses another benefit of fear.

But what about fear of poisonous spiders or crossing unsafe bridges? The point is that some fear is healthy.

FDR told us that “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” For the approximately 418,500 American who died in WWII, his assurance rang hollow. They did have something to fear as did their families.

Fear is not necessarily a psychological illness but rather can be an indication of health. The person with the “No fear” sticker on his truck probably misses that point. But most Americans do as well.

On the eve of the inauguration of a new President who will head up the most liberal government this country has ever known at a time of great national peril, my greatest fear today is the lack of fear among Americans over the condition and future of our country.

Most conservatives think that we are headed in a bad direction, but they convey an underlying attitude that ultimately things will come around. It’s sort of like watching a movie. The situation tends to get scary in the middle, but no need to get scared because you know that it will all work out in the end.

What is the basis for this confidence? Some would say, “Well, it always has worked out.” They overlook the reality that history, including recent history, is full of accounts of populations that have fallen prey to terrible plights.

Others place their confidence in our national character. “We’re Americans. We are survivors. We always have and always will.” To quote the investment disclaimer, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” A case could be made for the position that we are not the nation we used to be, morally, economically, and in many other categories, and therefore we have no basis for expecting the same outcome as before.

Some place their hope in the Lord. We need not fear because we are trusting in God. I have even had Christians get angry with me and label me as faithless because of my fear. However, I fear because I do believe. Scripture tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the beginning of knowledge.

Many evangelicals are not fearful because they have concluded that the fear of the Lord means “reverential awe.” As one well-known Christian writer stated, “We should never fear God.”

However, the biblical words related to the fear of the Lord are the plain old Hebrew and Greek words for fear. Many skilled expositors have tried to make the fear of the Lord mean something else, but it does not.

Others set up a straw man by asking, “Are you suggesting that we should be cringing in God’s presence? I had a wonderful father. When I was playing it straight I was perfectly comfortable in his presence. However, when I was living in disobedience I was fearful. That is what Scripture is telling us about our relationship with God.

In 1965 Billy Graham wrote a book entitled World Aflame. In reading the chapter on the sinful condition of America, his wife, Ruth commented, “Billy, if God doesn’t come soon and bring judgment upon the United States, He’s going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah!”

Our nation is far more wicked today than in 1965. However, we are far less concerned about God’s judgment than was Ruth Graham. Why?

Sometimes fear is a phobia, a sickness. Sometimes a lack of fear indicates pathology. I would challenge you to read the 27 passages in Scripture that speak of the fear of the Lord and decide whether our lack of fear indicates whether we are healthy or sick.

Some take comfort in the rationale that we can thank Jimmy Carter’s disastrous presidency for giving us Ronald Reagan. From that fact of history they extrapolate that the election of Barack Obama might lead to another Ronald Reagan.

This logic fails because if we had another Ronald Reagan we would be winning this election.

But an even greater flaw in this rationale resides in the reality that Barack Obama is no Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter was well-intentioned but inept. Barack Obama is neither well-intentioned nor inept. Therefore, while Jimmy Carter opened the door for the election of Ronald Reagan, if elected Barak Obama will nail the door shut on elections of conservatives in the future.

How so?
First, he will seriously curtail free speech. Michael Barone documents this inclination of Barak Obama and today’s Democratic party in his article entitled “The Coming Liberal Thugocracy.”  I would urge you to read this entire article.

Barone’s observations drive home the reality that the new Democratic left is militant in its beliefs and tactics. If Barack is elected and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid remain in control of the Congress, we can expect to find the same political correctness currently existing on college campuses to be imposed on society as a whole.

The academic world uses their degree-granting power to force its will on our young people. Under a Barak presidency we can expect legislation that will empower our legal and judicial system to deal with those who do not adhere to the party line.

Banks have already experienced coercion of this nature in the imposition of Congressional social engineering on their loan policies, which has produced our present financial crisis. If Obama is elected we can expect such tactics to strike closer to the doors of our homes.

One such move already in the mill resides in the reinstatement of the “Fairness Doctrine.” This will effectively silence the voice of talk radio. That news outlet can be credited with conservative political success in recent years. Without it, conservative success at the polls will be very difficult.

Yet another initiative we can expect from a President Obama and an empowered Democratic Congress consist of extending free reign and added financial support to ACORN and similar organizations that have the objective of loading the ballot box toward the left.

Imagine an organization that receives millions from the federal government, which has the sole mission of registering Democrats, especially those with radical left leanings. That requires no imagination at all because this is what we have now. However, with greater freedom and support, the playing field will be tilted even more steeply against conservatives.

Make no mistake about it, even the current efforts of ACORN are bringing in many thousands of voters to the left side of the political spectrum, numbers sufficient to change election outcomes.

The combination of silencing talk radio and other aspects of free speech along with stuffing the ballot box will make it practically impossible for conservatives to win elections. These efforts will be aided and abetted by the mainstream media, making it almost impossible for the truth to be known and objections to be raised. This would mean that the left would become more entrenched and more empowered and more radical.

In other words, Barack Obama is no Jimmy Carter. Carter brought us Reagan. Obama, if elected, will take us down a one-way dead-end street from which there will be no return. Pray fervently that God will spare us from that fate.