NO FEAR?
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10
If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then haughtiness or ambivalence towards Him is nothing less than the end of wisdom; a headlong dive into the blackened well of chaos and destruction. An attitude and lifestyle of ambivalence is to be expected in the world for sure, but it’s prevalence in “the church” today is disturbing. We have an abundance of adultery, idolatry, and carnality throughout the body of Christ; this is not completely new, Christians have always struggled with sin, but what is disturbing, is the acceptance and defense of it from within, when anyone points to the clear teaching of scripture on such matters they are ridiculed as a legalist, a Pharisee, or a hypocrite.
Many in “the Church” do not fear the Lord. God is imagined as some mild and tolerant Mr. Rogers-like deity, a milquetoast messiah. He just wants people to say a short prayer, so that they can start living their best life now. And he’s really bummed when people don’t love him back. The idea that we are called to walk a narrow difficult path, and obey the commands of Jesus as our master, seems strange and revolting to them.
The problem is this; many “Christians” have not grasped the fear of the Lord as a concept, let alone a lifestyle. This may be a symptom of unbelief, or the fruit of poor theology, either way it is a festering sore on the Body of Christ. No matter what has caused this terrible cancer, the cure is the same, Faith and Repentance. Faith: believing what Christ has declared and committing your life to him, and Repentance: turning from your sinful path and following Jesus Christ. The proper fear of the Lord will set much right in our own individual lives, and the church as a whole, but apathy and rebellion will only continue our downward spiral.
This message is needed now more than ever. Thank you for being faithful to the Word and for reminding us of this important truth. I feel so passionate about it myself since I just completed a podcast on the subject using Francis Chan’s recent impromptu Sermon on the subject during the premiere of his short film titled “Basic” Fear God” (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/kingdom-bound-radio/2010/08/05/francis-chan-on-basic-truth). Again, thanks for this and God bless.
In Christ,
Jeff (“JRed”)
Thank you for that show Jeff. Eerily, the sermon on fearing God seems to echo almost directly what Austin was saying here. I suspect that the Holy Spirit is grabbing a hold of many Chins and directing our gaze toward a Holy and Righteous God in these days. In spite of what many of us are seeing as apostasy occurring everywhere there also seems to be a corresponding movement of utterness toward God.
Thank you for sharing the link.