The Fear of the Lord
Aug.06, 2008 in
Podcast Episodes
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” But what does it mean to “fear” the Lord? Ray and Steve discuss a view of God that causes us to be afraid of God. Being afraid of our Father has negative ramifications for personal relationship with him, but we have often projected our own human insecurities onto God, hindering that relationship. Ray and Steve argue for a more healthy view of our Father which can lead to a truly intimate and personal relationship.
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August 6th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Good stuff!
“The fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom” i liked your take on it. It seems to me that the beginning of wisdom would be the acknowledgement of God’s superiority – not in a “he’s gonna get me because he’s bigger” kind of way.
August 7th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
T,
Thanks for coming over!
It seems to me that the beginning of wisdom would be the acknowledgement of God’s superiority
Well said! That is the gist of what I was trying to say.
It seems like in the Church we have a tendency to stress the power of God, but to me the biggest emphasis should be on His character. If we don’t know (or forget) that He is a loving Father, then we will have a tendency to look at His power in a fearful way. I think this could be because we project our own character on to God and expect that He would express His omnipotence as we would if we were given the chance; corruptly and selfishly. We must view the power of God through the lens of His character, otherwise we will end up, at best, always trying to appease Him, or at worst, running from Him.
Thanks for stopping by T, make yourself at home.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Wow, that’s great stuff guys!
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:28 pm
What about Hebrews 4:1 and Philippians 2:12? I know you mentioned I John 4:18, but I’m not sure that your objections to the classical idea of fear has the effect on someone that you say it does (as far as God goes). Remember what happened after Ananias and Sapphira died…great fear fell upon all the church. And one of the results was that the church grew (Acts 5:11-14). Not to cross over topics or anything, but was that fear, then, good?
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Okay…you guys have so much coming up…I’m listening to the last few minutes and think you are missing the analogy of God not being “safe” (which I tend to agree with). Take a gun. The gun is not “safe”. If it is used properly it is a great tool and one that is powerful and instills fear. But only to the one who will suffer the effects of a fired bullet. That power (don’t take the direct analogy TOO far) makes the law abiding citizen feel safe because they know that the gun is being used properly to defend the lawful one. But that lack of “safety” makes the one that is being protected feel safe and not fear. But total lack of fear is, I think, unbiblical, impractical and dangerous.
January 26th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Sorry…I realize that last post was a little unclear because at the end it may seem to contradict my position (of fear being good in relation to God being “unsafe”). The thought really is that anyone has to have a healthy fear of a gun because it has the power to destroy the body (to borrow a biblical phrase). But the one who it protects doesn’t have the wild terror of someone who the gun is “after”. So the very unsafe nature of the gun is what provides comfort to the lawful citizen.
To jump to the example of a father, no good Father instills an abiding terror in their children – we all agree on that. But the father whose dealings with their children (good and bad) don’t instill respect (and a necessary form of fear that has to go along with that respect) is not a good father. That is, the father who acts like a friend, an equal, a compatriot and not as a guide, a shelter and a corrector is not going to instill that fear. The fear, however, is not so much of the father but rather of what displeasure (and also what corrective action) the father will bear over the son’s misdeeds. And since the earthly example is just a shadowy figure of Our Father in Heaven, how much more does He comfort and guide AS WELL as correct. And as much as the comfort far exceeds any an earthly father can give, so does the correction (or, if needs be, simple retribution) far exceed the terror of a father’s actions.
With an earthly father, the relationship we have with that father determines our response. Do we respond more in fear to him or to what he will do. But with God, because of who He actually is, there is an added dimension of authority that requires something of us that no earthly father can rightly demand. So the terror of a true son of God is one of not pleasing God. Not out of a legal obligation, but because there is that love of God that can only come from Him in the first place (I John 4:19).
I hope that clears my thought up a little.