Do Not Fear?
Some in the church have chosen to make the most repeated command in Scripture, the most divisive command in Scripture.
“Do not fear” is the command I speak of.
If you listen to those who follow a literal/political hermeneutic the verses that tell us not to fear mean that we are never to fear anything, but always have faith in the face of anything that you (even justifiably) should be afraid of.
Thus, if you are wearing a mask or getting vaccinated during a pandemic, you are exhibiting fear and sinning in the eyes of a holy God and contributing to the downfall of Western civilization.
This…is not what is being commanded.
What is being commanded is that we not live in a constant state of faithless anxiety that betrays a lack of trust in God.
Faith in the face of fear is what we call “courage”.
Faith that says nothing we should justifiably fear and take reasonable precautions to avoid is not faith, but presumption and stupidity.
God calls us to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves as we maneuver through life…and that means taking reasonable precautions to preserve our lives and the lives of others.
For generations, that has meant we have taken vaccinations that have eradicated diseases that brought death and disability to millions.
Debate over the efficacy and risks of the Covid 19 vaccines is good and necessary…but not in the context of spirituality and faith.
As an aside, if you answer the question of whether or not your vaccinated by saying “Yes, by the blood of Christ!” you’re not holy, you’re embarrassing all of us…
Interestingly enough, the same people who will chastise you for fearing catching Covid have a long list of things they want you to be afraid of.
“The government”…because we know that the government agrees on everything…this is off the list if they approve of the current regime…
“The new world order’…that has to have turned over twice since the prophecy wonks began…
“Liberals”…who are those who don’t parrot the fear mongering of choice…
“Compromising Christians”… anyone who isn’t part of your tribe or dares disagree with you…
I am fully vaccinated and I have family and friends who refuse vaccination…these facts have nothing to do with their spirituality and standing with God or mine.
May God grant each one of us the discernment to walk through these times in wisdom and faithfulness to Him and with grace for each other.
“May God grant each one of us the discernment to walk through these times in wisdom and faithfulness to Him and with grace for each other.”
Amen Michael
Are you not familiar with Revelation 22:22?
“Therefore, goeth thou forth with great virility and no fear unto thyself, especially of that annoying China flu, save for fear of Marxists, Communists, liberals, CRT, the Clintons, the New World Order, the mark of the beast, Bill Gates, Anthony Fauci, apostate Christians, voter fraud, loss of liberties, credit cards, bar codes, microchips, and anything of the appearance of being woke. Against such things holdeth great fear and trepidation.
I’m sure you can find it in the Patriot Bible.
KevinH,
Damn, I forgot CRT and Gates.
Maybe I’ll get a Patriot Bible for my birthday… 🙂
The command, “Do not fear,” cannot be properly understood without reading it side by side with the command, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Jean,
Agreed…
I’m tired of hearing the acronym CRT.
WHITE FRIGHT!!!!….is better. I like it and wish it could be mandated as the proper term. And the silables just toll off your tongue! Thats resonance right there.
And…it’s fitting for any circumstance. Whispered in hush tones at Small Group? Shouted at your local School Board or the neibor’s chihuahua? It rhymes every time.
Leave it up to intellectuals to come up with a ridiculous term like CRT.
This is a really good article, Michael.
I suspect if the pandemic was something truly gruesome like the Ebola virus, where you have your family bleeding out right in front of your eyes, people couldn’t get their shots fast enough. But Corona is seen as nothing more serious than the flu so people can “courageously” refuse the shot.
I have a friend whose children are the same age as mine. Decades ago when the kids were little, she refused to have her children vaccinated. I asked if she wasn’t afraid her kids would get whooping cough, etc., and she said she didn’t worry because all the other kids got their shots.
This caused me to wonder. Was I sacrificing my own children for some common good? Shouldn’t I care about my own children first, like she did? But if everyone had her attitude, there’d still be polio, smallpox, etc. How much are we willing to risk for the other person’s children? I admit to being privately angry with her, that she was counting on me giving my kids the problematic (in her eyes) shots so her kids didn’t have to. (I kept my anger to myself. One only has so many valuable friends and I didn’t want to lose her!)
Thank you, Xenia.
I am all for real discussions around the vaccines and all the issues surrounding them.
It’s wise and reasonable to look at them from all different angles and with as much info as we can gather.
Half my clan is vaccinated….the other half is struggling to decide what will be best for them.
What I can’t abide is making it a matter of unbelief if one does get vaccinated…that is wicked in my eyes.
Xenia,
” she said she didn’t worry because all the other kids got their shots.”
I can’t tell you how many variations that I have heard of this sentiment when it comes to anything that pushes people outside of a perceived “comfort zone.” It is asking others to be their sacrificial lamb.
People who won’t get vaccinated, and feel protected because everyone else will. People who won’t order something on Amazon (or any other on-line purchase) because they don’t want their “information out there,” but pressure others to order things on-line for them. It’s pure selfishness that seeks self preservation—so they think—at the expense of others. What they are saying is that the rest of us are expendable. It also reinforces their own sense of worth with a smugness in telling themselves they are wiser than everyone else.
Xenia,
I had a friend whose infant son ended up in an oxygen tent in the pediatric unit of the local hospital because he contracted whooping cough because she “questioned” vaccines. She doesn’t anymore.
Many years ago as I was growing up i swam with a local paraplegic neighbor boy in our local pool. I was using a wheelchair after major hip surgery, but I would soon be out of it. Ernie was in his chair forever due to polio because his mom didn’t believe in vaccines.
Finally, when I was in Colombia a member of a sister church died a horrible death from tetanus. He was not vaccinated because there was nowhere to get one in his small village.
Vaccines aren’t always perfect, but they’re pretty darn close. They’re scientifically proven and tested, while my antivax neighbors do not wear lab coats. I don’t think they always understand what’s at stake.
I view some of the scriptures about anxiety and fear from a relational encouragement friendship and brotherly perspective. Jesus is both a friend and a brother. 1 Peter 5-7 is a good example. Why, should we cast our anxiety on him is answered because he cares for us. But folks forget to quote the ” He cares for you” part which I think is the biggest take away this particular verse.
I would like to expand my 10:09 an comment. The command, “Do not Fear,” does not serve as an endorsement of or cover for suicide or playing Russian Roulette with your life.
Well said Michael and I concur.
Fear can be a God given ‘spidey sense’ that warns of real danger, when listened to rationally and with common sense.
I’ve got a new philosophy on live, and I’m trying to turn it into a practice.
It seems like everywhere I go, people have a horror movie soundtrack playing in their head.
Ever watched “Elf recut as a horror movie” on Youtube? Did you ever see “Jesus Camp” where they add horror movie score music to kids praying for George W Bush as President?
So many of us have that “worst case scenario” playing in our head. And I trying to lower that to zero (without being an ostrich and denying facts).
So my new practice: there’s nothing I need to fear. Oh I’ll have a healthy respect for bears and moose and heights (but not so much sharks as statistically they aren’t as good at killing people 😂).
I have had a moderate fear of COVID, and this why I got vaccinated. But I won’t fear the potential side effects. And while being responsible, I won’t fear the unvaccinated.
Just a “theory”…
I was one of those who could not take my second jab of Moderna because of severe side effects….trips to ER with breathing difficulties, high BP & heart rate. I am in no way anti vac & believe I am just one of those folks whose body cannot tolerate the ingredients in the shot. I have chosen, with God’s grace, not to live in fear of Covid or the vaccine.
pslady,
There are many who have suffered the same…protect yourself as you can and we’ll pray for the hand of God on you in protection and peace…
jtk,
I can handle it all but heights…and now that I’m old I get vertigo with them.
I suspect that fear becomes sin when it obliterates hope…
Heights? Just got back from N/E Oregon where i traveled in a little gondola 8,000+ feet up a mountainside overlooking a lake.
Hate heights with nothing under me, but my daughter loved it, so……
Any prayers were appreciated, long story there – wont elaborate, trust all went well for Michael, also
we just squeaked through ahead of a big grass fire north of Yakima
God keep all here.
I have always found much of the Bible teaching I have heard on fear to be odd. When I was in Bible College and in “the ministry” I not only listened to the Chuck Tapes but thousands of hours of Sermons on CSN (Calvary Satellite Network) and other Christian Radio Stations (but mostly CSN).
As I read Scripture I gained a sense that there were several types of fear. The one that preachers harped on and often applied to the wrong passages was debilitating fear. The type that controls and runs every aspect of a person’s life that it causes them to give up or do nothing about it.
Yet, in the Scriptures there are numerous times where fear was a precursor to faith. Wait, fear can ignite faith? Yes! Just think of how many times the admonition of “Do not fear,” takes place just before some great act of faith. Believe it or not most of the Hebrews Hall of Faith had moments of fear. Thank God they were recorded for us. Now that is comforting.
Then there is this whole fear of God thing (which in my opinion has been schluffed off to only mean respect in Evangelical circles). Fearing God is much more than just “healthy respect.”
Then what about “commonsense” fears that we may face at any moment? In some of these cases fear is a Divinely inspired mechanism that provides a greater mathematical chance of survival.
Am I the only one who has noticed that Environmental Apocalypticism is borrowing pages straight from the Dispensational End Times playback? After all fear and immenent destruction not only inspire mindless imitation and pragmaticism but sell quite well, too.
My whole point is summed up by saying, “Fear often gives birth to faith.”