Perspective: Unraveling Fear

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Unraveling Fear

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom...

Psalm 111:10a (NRSV)

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There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear...

1 John 4:18a (NRSV)

'Twas grace that taught my hear to fear

And grace my fears relieved

From "Amazing Grace" by John Newton

Because we live in a broken world, doing what is right can potentially cost a person dearly, especially if he or she clashes with systems of injustice.  Jesus knew that He would someday pay the ultimate price for taking a stand against the corrupt and oppressive systems of His time.  He also knew that, as people who follow in His footsteps, His disciples could very well face the same consequences, so He exhorted them not to be afraid of the powers that be or of anyone else who could threaten their lives.

Jesus says,
I tell you, my friends, don't be terrified by those who can kill the body but after that can do nothing more.  I'll show you whom you should fear: fear the one who, after you have been killed, has the authority to throw you into hell.  Indeed, I tell you, that's the one you should fear.¹
These words can be either frightening or freeing, depending on the way we read them.

Jesus' exhortation could easily be read as a threat that, if we succumb to fear, there will quite literally be hell to pay.  In this particular case, the Greek word translated into English as hell is Gehenna.  Gehenna is another name for the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, a place just south of Jerusalem that has a very dark history.  At one time, people who were unfaithful to God sacrificed their children to false gods at this site.²  Eventually, King Josiah of Judah desecrated this place to put a stop to the horrific practice.³  At some point, this site became a place where garbage and dead bodies were burned.⁴

To throw something into Gehenna is to dispose of it as garbage, like throwing it into an incinerator.  Basically, Jesus tells us to not fear the people who can only kill us physically but rather to fear the One who is able to dispose of our souls like rubbish.  Only God has any authority over what happens to our souls.

I suspect that, by unpacking the word hell, I have done very little to make Jesus' exhortation seem any less threatening; in fact, I have probably made it seem even more threatening.  Still, I do believe that these words, if read properly, are actually meant to liberate us from fear.  It is easy read Jesus' words as a threat if we stop reading at the wrong point.  Christians have a really bad habit of proof-texting, in other words, plucking a Bible verse or two out of context in order to prove a point.  When Jesus tells us whom we should fear, He is not finished speaking.  If we want to find the hope in His instruction, we must keep reading.

Jesus asks, "Aren't five sparrows sold for two small coins?"⁵  In a parallel version of this speech, He asks, "Aren't two sparrows sold for a small coin?"⁶  Apparently, at that time, a person could buy four sparrows and get one free.  Basically, Jesus is pointing out that sparrows are rather inexpensive.⁷  He then says, "Yet not one of them is overlooked by God."⁸  Though sparrows are cheap to humans, they are still quite important to God.

So what does the value of sparrows have to do with us?  Jesus goes on to say, "Even the hairs on your head are all counted.  Don't be afraid.  You are worth more than many sparrows."⁹  Everything God created, including the sparrow, is a masterpiece, but humanity is God's magnum opus, created in the very image of God.  Sparrows are important to God, but human beings are extremely important to God.  One does not throw a priceless work of art into the incinerator like so much worthless garbage.

To summarize, Jesus tells us not to be afraid of other humans who can only destroy our bodies, but rather to be afraid the One who is able to destroy our souls like garbage.  He then tells us not to be afraid, because God, the only One who has this ability, values us more than garbage.

A quick glance at the news will remind us that there are many people who make the world a scary place.  Such people can only do so much harm to us, for, though they can kill us physically, they are utterly incapable of destroying what is eternal about us.  There is only One who has the power to destroy our souls, and this power demands infinitely more fear than the power to kill the body.  The only One who has the power to destroy our souls actually loves us dearly and has no interest in destroying our souls.  If we are loved by the only One we have any legitimate reason to fear, then do we have any reason to fear whatsoever?

The Psalmist proclaims, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," but St. John writes, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear."  In the words of Shane Hipps, "Wisdom may begin with fear, but it does not end there."¹⁰  God created us to love, but, when we fail to love each other, the fear of punishment or retribution is sufficient to prevent us from destroying each other.  As St. John writes, "Fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love."¹¹  I do believe that there is a proper fear of God, which is less of a fear that God might smite us and more of a sense of reverence, wonder, awe, and humility before God.

The Bible can be used to strike fear into our hearts, or it can be used to set our hearts free.  I, for one, have decided to read the Gospel of Jesus Christ as if it actually is good news, as its name implies.  Christ came to save us from the things that bind us, including our fears.  Our fears are totally unraveled by the perfect love of God, revealed to us in Christ.


Notes:

1. Luke 12:4-5 (CEB)
2. See 2 Chronicles 28:3.
3. See 2 Kings 23:10.
4. Wikipedia: "Gehenna"
5. Luke 12:6a (CEB)
6. Matthew 10:29 (CEB)
7. William Barclay.  The Gospel of Luke, Revised Edition.  1975, Westminster Press.  p. 161
8. Luke 12:6b (CEB)
9. Luke 12:7 (CEB)
10. Shane Hipps.  Selling Water by the River: A Book about the Life Jesus Promised and the Religion That Gets in the Way.  2012, Jericho Books. p. 80
11. 1 John 4:18b (NRSV)

The image of Gehenna is from the Jewish Encyclopedia.