Cliff’s day began with a kathisophobia flare-up. As he stood awkwardly within the kitchen, sipping his coffee, attempting to work up the nerve to take a seat down, he wondered why he had been struck with such an unusual fear. Unsurprisingly, he had this flare-up—fears are likely to are available in bunches. Cliff was scheduled to offer a very important presentation at work. Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, is a standard fear. But his sesquipdealophobia and hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (fear of long words and fear of very long words) had him in a panic.
Unable to take a seat in his automobile, Cliff took the long trek to work. He needed to avoid the skate park—his ephebiphobia wouldn’t let him near teenagers. Perhaps that will have been the higher option for him, though. When he turned the corner, he saw a big dog and froze, his cynophobia momentarily paralyzing him. To avoid the dog, he attempted to go down a dark alley but needed to dart back once his nyctophobia got the higher of him.
Cliff finally arrived in time for a morning snack. Only just a few hours before the presentation. Why did he pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a day like this? He must have known that his arachibutyrophobia can be at its peak today. He gagged as he imagined peanut butter clinging to the roof of his mouth. He’d must forgo the meal and head to the presentation.
With all these fears swirling around, Cliff thought perhaps he’d sit down—but once more, his kathisophobia kept him standing, unable to rest.
While to some, Cliff’s story is outright ridiculous, others can perhaps discover with a minimum of just a few of those fears. Fear is a traditional a part of life outside of Eden. It will be helpful—a toddler crossing a busy street must have a healthy fear of passing cars. But everyone knows that fear can get outside of its banks and change into unhealthy, or in Cliff’s case, crippling.
What Does the Bible Say about Fear?
Fear is an unpleasant emotion brought on by the assumption that somebody or something is dangerous, more likely to cause pain or a threat. As evidenced in Cliff’s situation, there are quite a lot of fears. While we may not be introduced to something like Zemmiphobia (fear of the Great Mole Rat) within the Bible, there are just a few distinguished fears. Often, there’s a battle between fearing man and fearing God.
Two essential Hebrew words are translated as fear. I wish I could let you know that one meant reverential fear or awe, and the opposite was a knocking in your knees because you only saw a snake. Unfortunately, these words have a large semantic range and are sometimes synonymous. But we do have slightly help.
The most typical word group is yirah. This is a word with a large semantic range. It can mean reverential fear and anxiety, dread, terror, etc. It’s slightly just like the word “run”. You can run for president, run the copy machine, run in a marathon, run the corporate, get a run in your pantyhose, and, in consequence, have tears run down your face. Yirah is analogous. You can have a yirah of God that’s more like awe, and you may have a yirah of God because you might be a scoundrel in His presence.
The second word group, pachad, has less semantic range. It is all the time dread and terror. It’s not a word that you simply would use for awe. It’s just like the word you’d use to explain Cliff’s fears. While you can say that you’ve a yirah of snakes, pachad is the word you’ll likely reach for while you encounter one.
Regarding the New Testament, there is barely one word, and it’s familiar: phobos. This is where we get our word phobia. While you would possibly consider it as an irrational fear, that isn’t what the word means in Greek. It, like yirah has a large semantic range. People were terrified (phobos) of Jesus in Matthew 14:26 and in Acts 9:31 the early church lived “within the fear (phobos) of the Lord”.
This wide selection of meaning is what gives us some perplexing issues. How can John say in 1 John 4:18 that perfect love casts out fear, and yet we see the identical root word (phobeo) used as a command in 1 Peter 2:17?
Should We Fear God or Not?
Let’s return to Cliff for a second and picture the apparel of everyone within the room when he gives his speech. (If he can muster up the courage). It’s a business environment, so you’ve suits, ties, dress pants, and what you’d expect. Except for one dude who’s wearing a baseball jersey, has that Tim Tebow eye-black under his eyes, and is wearing a ball cap. Now, as Cliff walks in, he’s slightly confused. But who’s he confused by? He’ll likely be thrown by the guy looking like he’s about to play a baseball game. He doesn’t fit within the room.
1 John 4:18 is, in a way, the guy wearing the baseball uniform. The Scriptures are full of references to fearing God–both a reverential fear and the phobia you’d expect to have while you’ve drawn the ire of the Creator of the sun. But then John is available in, wearing his baseball uni, and says there is no such thing as a fear in love.
We know that love is the glue that holds all of it together. Love is what caused God to offer His only begotten Son. It is love that held Him there. Love which raised Him. And Love which reached us. Love, on the planet of 1 John, is the blood flowing through the veins of a believer. You aren’t a part of the family when you do not have love. In other words, love is a giant deal.
Fear bows before love.
To use our illustration, John is telling us that on a certain point that should be made, the guy within the baseball uniform isn’t the weirdo—the suits and ties are. But the best way we so often do Bible study, we would like to ensure that everybody is wearing the identical stuff; we’re thrown by the guy decked out in baseball gear, and we attempt to make him change his clothes. But all of the while, he’s protesting. There is a reason why he’s wearing what he’s, and if we pause and hearken to him, we’d learn something.
I don’t know why the guy in our analogy is wearing his uniform to work. Maybe he has an organization softball game right after the meeting. But I do know why John wears sports attire when all the opposite verses are suits and ties. John is telling us something very specific, and it’s all about how we relate to God now that we’re in Christ.
Picture a giant circle, and in that circle is the motion of affection, which John has been talking concerning the whole time. John tells the believers in his audience that they’ve things of their lives that testify they’re in that circle. In John’s time, people said, “If you need to be ‘within the circle of acceptance,’ then you could do A-Z.” That’s fear talking. Do this, and also you’ll be accepted. Don’t, and also you’ll be zapped.
John is telling a distinct story. A gospel story that goes back to Adam and Eve. They were in that circle of affection—it was the Garden. But they rebelled and stepped outside the circle. By doing this, all those awful things like guilt, shame, and fear poured over them. Notice what the fear does—it makes them attempt to cover themselves as if fear can someway get you back into the circle.
They’ve moved outside the circle of affection. And for this reason, there’s fear, fear, fear. It won’t ever work, irrespective of what they pull right down to cover themselves. There will all the time be this nagging sense—and it’s correct—that you simply aren’t covered enough since you aren’t. The emperor has no clothes.
And over this awful story of our demise, John says, “Perfect love casts out fear.” He is drawing a circle around us—putting us back within the Garden due to the gospel. And he’s saying on this circle, fear doesn’t belong anymore. If you need to keep words like reverential fear and awe, please do, however it’s not John’s point here.
When you realize you’ve access and the identical standing that Jesus does…and that it isn’t due to anything you’ve done however it is all in Christ, because of Christ, and only due to Christ…well, you don’t have fear. When you stand before God on judgment day, He is not going to see your good deeds or record. He will see that of Jesus. Why would I fear if I’m covered by Christ?
Should we fear God? Absolutely. But we’d like to know, with John, that it isn’t fear which produces holiness. When we sin, we’re—in a way, placing ourselves outside the circle. And that’s why you’ll experience things like fear. (That’s not saying your standing has modified). Fear is prevalent outside the circle. But in Christ, it melts away. Love produces holiness and, oddly enough, results in the fitting type of fear.
How Can We Choose Faith Over Fear?
The key to helping Cliff isn’t to give attention to his fears. We might even acknowledge that while we’re still awaiting redemption, he may need the occasional battle with fearing the neighbor’s harmless poodle. And we don’t chide him and take a look at to fire up another type of fear—as if that will calm his fears and whip him into shape. No, we rehearse the gospel again and again and another time with Cliff.
Christ is present within the lifetime of those that are crippled by an irrational fear of sitting down. That is the elemental place to begin in helping Cliff. It is for him to know a correct fear. Yes, it is crucial to know the entire gospel, resembling the results of sin. However, the keynote of the gospel for somebody like Cliff shall be the sure and certain acceptance that comes through Christ. This is what drives out fear.
Cliff’s healing will come when his worship is larger than His fears. It will occur after we see Christ as He is. And that won’t fully occur until the brand new heaven and earth. But it’ll. And that’s something Cliff, and also you and I, can hang onto even when we’re trembling. And as those gospel roots go deeper, who knows, perhaps this perfect love will achieve the here and now at casting out these fears.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/AaronAmat
Mike Leake is husband to Nikki and father to Isaiah and Hannah. He can be the lead pastor at Calvary of Neosho, MO. Mike is the creator of Torn to Heal and Jesus Is All You Need. His writing house is http://mikeleake.net and you may connect with him on Twitter @mikeleake. Mike has a latest writing project at Proverbs4Today.
