In my blog yesterday I mentioned Matt. 10:28 which says "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
Proverbs 1 says that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge..." and Proverbs 9 says that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..." In fact the 'fear of the Lord' is a common theme throughout scripture.
In the modern world this idea is usually ignored entirely. We live in an age which desires the almighty God to be a 'big buddy' or the 'big guy in the sky.' Christians today tend to believe that God is a teddy bear who would never hurt a fly. The movie 'Dogma', which is a satire against Christianity in general and Roman Catholicism in particular, introduces itself with a Roman Catholic bishop presenting the 'buddy Christ' as the new official Church representation of the Christ figure. The movie is not far off of reality.
When the 'fear of the Lord' is mentioned in modern Christianity, whether it is by lay people or by the clergy, it is normally represented as a healthy respect of the awesomeness of God, but not as an actual fear. However these attitudes stand in stark contrast to the biblical representation of the 'fear of the Lord.' While certainly a healthy respect for our creator is a part of the biblical idea of the 'fear of the Lord' it is only the beginning. The 'fear of the Lord' represented in Matthew 10, and also in Acts 5 as well as many Old Testament passages, is not simply respect but honest fear.
Americans today have come to the conclusion that fear and love are mutually exclusive, however this is not what scripture teaches. It is, in fact a recent idea. It is common knowledge that in Machiavelli's classic The Prince the author declares that 'it is better to be feared than loved'. However it is less know that he first states "Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with." (The Prince, Chapter 17) Machiavelli's statement here is exactly what the scriptures teach about God, he is to be both feared and loved. The difference between Machiavelli and God is that Machiavelli was a man; fallen, imperfect, and limited; while God is perfect in every way and infinite. What Machiavelli saw as being near to impossible God can do easily.
This brings us back to the idea of the 'fear of the Lord.' What we must understand is that the scriptural teaching of the 'fear of the Lord', while it includes the idea of healthy respect, also included the idea of one's fear for the state of his immortal soul.
The context of Christ's teaching in Matthew is the provision and protection of God. Christ is teaching his disciples that they need not be afraid of Satan and his minions. However we must look at his technique, in this teaching Christ does not tell his disciples that they should not fear the Devil because God will protect them from him. Instead Christ teaches his disciples to fear the Devil because God is altogether a more fearsome being. While the Devil and his minions can 'destroy the body' or kill a person, God can 'destroy both body and soul in hell' or commit one to eternal torment.
The teaching of the 'fear of the Lord' is that we are to both love God, who is our father, and that we must fear his wrath. Though for Christians we are given freedom in Christ that the Jews were not. We must still keep in mind this idea of fear if we are to come to an honest understanding of our place in the Kingdom of God.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You're awfully big on fear and wrath, but what about God's love? I'll admit the modern church doesn't spend any time talking about God's wrath and fearing God. It's something that is needed from time to time as a reminder. But God's love is greater than God's wrath, isn't it. So it seems right that most of our teaching should focus on that. Maybe I'm playing Devil's advocate. Well, okay, I am playing Devil's advocate. But I'm challenging you to address the fact that it is not God's will (His desire) that any should perish. That let's us see right into the heart of God and that heart is full of love and mercy.
ReplyDeleteI am focusing first on God's wrath because an understanding of his wrath is necessary for an understanding of his love.
ReplyDeleteThis is the mistake that I see many churches making today, yes the love of God is greater than the wrath of God, and so they focus all their teaching on the love of God.
However we cannot really even begin to understand the love of God unless we first understand his justice and his wrath.
I am of the opinion, although without research or an evaluation of other factors that do influence what I am about to say, that there is probably a positive correlation between the loss of power of meaningful preaching about the wrath of God (it decended into 'Hellfire and Brimstone' preaching) and the increase of liberalized thinking that allows and approves of abortion, open marriage, gay marriage, and other evils of our society that are in direct contradiction of Biblical teaching. {How's that for a complex, run on sentence?!}
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, I do think that preaching on the wrath of God became something that was easily parodied and thus lost power, while a meaningful and serious discussion and understanding of the wrath of God was too convicting to be maintained even in the Church. It was only as a child (I'm 55) that I heard any serious, thoughtful, and meaningful preaching on the wrath of God. I have since known many churches that were unwilling to discipline open sinners in the congregation, much as the Corinthian Church. Any honest and open discussion of God's standards for the church would not be welcome in those Churches.
I remember and miss the hellfire and brimstone sermons. It gave me a healthy fear of the Lord. Notice the key word being healthy!
ReplyDelete