Fearing God

 May 21, 2023

“They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods…”  —2 Kings 17:33

A lifetime ago, going through the process for ordination, I sat before about ten older clergy on the Board of Ordained Ministry who bombarded me with questions of theology, psychology, and practical ministry. I was defending a paper I had written when one of the questioners commented on something I had written about fearing the Lord. “I think what Jim means is having a healthy respect for God,” he said. In an uncharacteristic move, I slammed my fist down on the table. “That is NOT what I mean,” I fairly shouted. “I mean a shaking in your boots, I’m gonna die fear!” Things got quiet in a hurry. “Well, that didn’t go as I expected,” I thought, and was surprised when they moved me along in the process. 

Repeatedly in the Bible, God’s people are commanded to fear him and him alone. Divided loyalties never work; as Joshua said, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” Or Elijah, “Why do you halt between two opinions?” 

Many times, Israel took that admonition seriously; when God appeared to his people in fire and smoke, and an earthquake on Mount Sinai, they were seriously afraid. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah and his wife, he thought they were going to die because they had seen him. 

Sadly, as time went on, this genuine fear got watered down till it was little more than a passing respect, not much different I suspect, from what that one pastor meant when he tried to explain my use of the term. I suspect at least part of the reason faithfulness to God and his Word is so difficult is that we have redefined fear, giving it a special and unique meaning when we use it in reference to our relationship with God. We’ve watered it down. Any notion that God is to be genuinely feared is lost, opening the door to part-time faithfulness; serving him when it suits us, but more often serving ourselves. All the while, we commend ourselves, baptizing all sorts of error and evil in the Name of Christ till we are unable to distinguish between faithful obedience and our unholy following of even the perverse gods of the world around us.

Like the Israelites of old, we fear the LORD, but serve our own gods. Our fear has dissipated into bland respect, and the clear boundaries of Christian faith have blurred as we have accepted the gods this world worships. I am grateful tonight that this True God—the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as fearful as he truly is, loves us with unconditional love. Were that not so, holy fear would incapacitate and destroy us. The Good News is that the wrath of God against sin has been poured out on Jesus Christ at the Cross. God is still to be feared if I persist in sin, but humble repentance enables me to draw near and be saved.