“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Psalm 111:10
“The fear of man bringeth a snare.” Proverbs 29:25
Though we may deny it every one of us is, at any given point living in fear. The question is not, “Are you afraid?” The question is rather, “Who do you fear?” Scripture addresses these two fears, the one that is default, and the one that is supernatural. “The fear of the Lord,” we are repeatedly told, is the origination point of all wisdom. Anything claiming to be wisdom which sets itself against God and the fear of him is actually the antithesis of what it claims to be. The fear of the Lord is the one fear we need to embrace!
In opposition to this is another type of fear altogether, “The fear of man” which we are told “bringeth a snare.” This type of fear trips you up unexpectedly and then imprisons you forcefully, something none of us would want; but here’s the amazing thing, we frequently choose to live in this type of fear while rejecting the fear of the Lord at the very same time.
Scripture is saturated with tales of the fear of man ensnaring and imprisoning men under its iron fisted tyranny. From Aaron’s beloved golden calf to Pontius Pilate knowingly condemning the only innocent man who ever lived; Gideon’s Ephod, Peter’s denial of Christ, Paul’s imprisonment…the list goes on and on. Can any one of us examine our own lives and find good fruit from this twisted tree?
The fear of the Lord will always lead to good and the fear of man will always lead to sin. We need to realize the fear of man isn’t a bad habit we need to cut back on, it is a sin we must repent of if we ever want to live an abundant life. For the man who trembles before God will never grovel before men!
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” -Acts 20:28-30
Possessed of an other-worldly passion for the church, Paul addresses the elders of Ephesus, warning these brothers of two particular dangers. The first one being probably the worst of the two evils…wolves (the first half of this warning the general assembly of believers throughout history has weathered fairly well, albeit not without collateral damage.) Wolves that tear congregations to shreds. They enter in and bring in all sorts of visceral ham-stringing intentions. These are those who intend to destroy, these are those whom I believe God will destroy in kind (I Corinthians 3:17.)
The second type of man Paul warns against is more subtle, and probably far more difficult to recognize as they will tend to make a bit more sense (this is the kind of individual I feel we have not dealt with as well.) They are the type who arise from amongst those whom the Holy Spirit had appointed to be shepherds. I am not sure I understand what catalyst causes these shepherds to go A.W.O.L. but I think the resulting damage can almost be similar to the damage caused from a festal wolf. The pain an “ariser” inflicts is more damaging because a trust of love is broken. In our day and age, they do not even have to be ordained. I suspect there are scads of people who ‘congregate,’ with other believers on a weekly basis but have not a bit of desire to forbear other believers in love; rather they come into our churches with nothing but a desire to promote themselves, or the way they see things.
I think much is known by the body about wolves, but less is known and recognized about those who would make, “followers after themselves.” They are more subtle because they appear to say all the right things. My mind, when it reads Paul’s warning here immediately jumps to other portions of the New Testament where Paul says to follow him after he follows Christ. I wonder, art thou being a hypocrite Paul? Hardly! Those who would follow Paul would be following a man who is following the God-Man Jesus Christ. Paul’s concern wanted men to become like Jesus Christ as a result of his ministry. These perverse men are always frustrated people, who drag others down with themselves, always filled with bitterness and with wrath and doubting. Jealousy is their cologne, and pride is their alarm clock.
The word “perverse,” in this context probably reflects more of the idea of twisting, or making crooked. It is not that they are pedophiles or sexually perverse. It means more that they twist scripture to fit their own agendas, often to such a degree as to be hardly perceptible.
Scripture twisters and me-followers are less concerned with people becoming like Christ than they are concerned with people becoming like them. I suspect that these are more like wolf-kin…shepherds with a form of Stockholm Syndrome. Whether they know it or not they have been hostages of the devil, and are starting to appease him. They have completely lost sight of Christ.
We must take heed, that we do not become prisoners ourselves. Take notice of the tears of the Apostle, and let not those tears fall to the ground in vain…
