Heart Without Fear

It’s not enough to suggest that we fear too much or the wrong things. Our Western heritage includes a depth and kind of fear that is completely foreign to Scripture. Our programmed reactions to things includes a dark and sinister fear that is wholly improper. It may well be one of the hardest things to wash away from our minds as we seek a biblical mindset.

Consider the shape of things we fear. All our Fright Night movies echo of the Anglo-Saxon culture, as reflected in the vast majority of our fairy tales. While having a fear of the unknown is common in primitive societies, what is crazy is how our highly developed society still carries the most obscenely stupid fears of the unknown.

I’ve struggled long with the instinctive evangelical fear of Satan. Scripture speaks of proper respect for a being with such high authority, warning us not to hold him in contempt or speak of him with harsh derision. However, we also speak of him as the servant of Our God, not some hideous nasty evil. I rather think Satan loves that Western image of himself, because it encourages us to avoid righteousness. It does this in a most subtle way, as part of the whole package of what’s wrong with Western heritage in the first place.

There are things in this world that can hurt you, even eat you alive. Still, it has always been possible for humans with an active heart and some intelligence to defeat just about every threat, simply as a reflection of God’s promise to Noah, that all living things on this earth would be our prey (Genesis 9:2 — translations vary in wording). Did you forget that promise? Things that can hurt you do not creep up out of some imaginary Hell, over which we have no effective authority to defend our lives.

Indeed, if you have chosen to live by your heart instead of giving your head primacy in all things, chances are good you’ll learn to respect natural creatures. You’ll learn their habits and capabilities, not as some devoted worshiper of Mother Earth, but as someone who knows: This is my Father’s world. He holds in His hands the ultimate authority, so our greatest enemy is each other. Yes, we are a part of this natural world, but we are also the purpose of it, and our fallen nature perverts our understanding of it.

Teach yourself to reshape your fears consistent with what Scripture says. Stop fearing imaginary things you see in movies. Sure, respect what other men may do to you, but realize that nothing harming you will take you beyond God’s mercy. In the midst of every trial, God is with you and will give you the means to pass through without losing your faith. Quite literally, a heart that belongs to God can offer us an inner resilience not granted to those who still live in their heads.