What to do with Fear

Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Owe nothing to anyone....(Romans 13:7-8)

For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same. (Romans 13:3)

I am puzzled by the thinking or logic of these verses. I suppose my logical Western mind tries to simplify and categorize concepts that to people in Paul's culture would view quite differently. But I am not them and so I need to perceive how this applies to my life now.

What I struggle with and am trying to understand here is how fear fits into this picture, especially as a debt owed to someone. The most oft-repeated command in the Bible is the instruction not to be afraid, and yet here it seems to be saying that there may be times or relationships in which I have a legitimate debt of fear to pay someone. This is even emphasized by the phrase, Owe nothing to anyone. This phrase comes immediately after four things listed as potential debts that may be owed to someone.

The only clue so far that I can find in this section about what to do about this question is the discussion about fear in relationship to authorities in verses three and four. But even there it strongly implies that we can be free of fear if we do what is good. Of course, what is really good and what authorities may consider good may sometimes be in direct conflict. But I believe that we must be led by the Spirit of God to perceive what is good from God's viewpoint irregardless of what authorities may demand.

If I take this passage and apply it to the story in Acts 4 of the early church when the authorities tried to prevent them from preaching, healing or spreading the gospel, I find it rather conflicting. In fact, one of the most famous and powerful prayers in the Bible is the early church's prayer to God in response to threats by the authorities demanding that the apostles and believers comply with long held customs and trying to instill fear in them. The church told God that the political leaders were trying to make them afraid and that they needed more boldness to overcome the fear that the authorities claimed was due them. So how does this all fit together?

I find this question about rendering fear that is due particularly relevant today with all the increasing agitation and manipulation by current authorities to induce ever-increasing fear of potential terrorism. It is quite clear that there is a hidden agenda behind all this propaganda and it seems to be simply a smokescreen for removing more and more of our freedoms and rights. Fear is used as the excuse to get people to believe that their fears can be allayed by increased “security” through surrender of their privacy and freedoms. But really it is a mirage that is only leading to total slavery of the common people in a power-grab by federal and state agencies spinning out of control.

I personally believe nothing can stop this movement and that we are on the fast-track to tyranny following the example of many other countries who have succumbed to this allure. The revelation of what life is like in Myanmar right now is a preview of the kind of world we are headed for where authorities are far more interested in maintaining total power and control over their hapless subjects/victims than they are in the very survival or needs of any of their people. This is the matured result of selfishness and sin in the human heart and is the destiny of all who allow selfishness to reign unrestricted in their lives.

I do not have a conclusive answer to my questions yet, but one thing still seems to be reinforced. The priorities of authority in my mind must be constantly checked and aligned properly to make sure that God is always above any other competitor for my allegiance. I think of the words of Jesus, Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28) If fear is going to be a dominant factor in my life then I must at least make the choice as to who I am going to fear the most and make sure it is God, not corrupt alternatives.

Given this context of authorities trying to induce terror in the minds of millions of people to bring them under their control, is Paul saying that we owe them a legitimate debt of fear? I find that hard to believe or even consistent with the rest of Scripture. I looked up the Greek word translated fear here and mulled over other verses in the New Testament with this word and found some interesting applications.

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. (Acts 9:31)

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)

So how do these pieces fit together correctly? How does the fear of God trumping the fear of abusive, manipulative authorities working to increase their power improve or help me align properly with the kingdom of heaven? In the above verse I find some fascinating concepts about the fear of the Lord.

It is a fact that fear-bonds are easily overcome or broken by a greater fear replacing the first fear. The human brain has been trained by Satan to bond with fear which can be very effective in controlling us abusively. But fear-bonds, though very strong are also very unstable and can easily be replaced with an even greater fear that causes us to quickly switch our allegiance to the power behind the greater threat. Since it is necessary for salvation that our allegiance be centered on God alone, Jesus tells us to pay attention to the greatest power and Source of real danger in the entire universe. God is the greatest Source of danger, not because He wants to be a threat to intimidate us like Satan does, but because power that is not properly related to is always dangerous.

If you understand anything about high-power electrical systems you know that you have to respect the guidelines and protocol when working around it or your life could be snuffed out in an instant. This is not because the electricity is angry with you but because of natural principles inherent in power and its relationship to everything around it. The same principles apply even more so to the ultimate Power Source of the whole universe. We must have access to that power or we cannot live, but we also must come into proper relationship with it or we also will not live very long.

But Satan has presented himself as an alternate source of power for us and sin has convinced us that he is a viable way to view reality and serve our own selfish interests. Satan has, as with everything else God has put in place, perverted the nature of fear and turned it into an abusive, hurtful weapon to control us and rob us of our freedoms. Fear of any kind generally creates a desire for comfort. So as another perversion he has offered us temporary pleasures and selfish exploits to offer us comfort to sooth our fears. But this too, being a counterfeit, only leaves us feeling more empty and more afraid which drives the crazy cycle in our hearts into more and more intensity and pain.

But in God's true system we can experience the true and original experience of fear (which is really respect) and have that fear be balanced by real comfort which brings deep peace and real satisfaction. In Acts 9:31 we see that the Holy Spirit is the counterpart or answer to effectively align our minds and hearts into a proper relationship with the legitimate fear of the Lord.

Satan's method or counterfeit for comfort is often pleasure. That is why I think it is no surprise that right now there is such a proliferation of pleasure-inducing activities and shows on television and in the theater's to keep people distracted from the increasing fears being created by our government. Pleasure acts to numb our fears like drugs numb our sense of emptiness and pain. Once the effect wears off we immediately crave another fix to cover up the even more increased awareness of our desperation and fear. Thus our addiction to entertainment is a very real drug to keep us avoiding facing reality and ignore the plight that we are in socially and politically.

For those who live in fear or avoidance through pleasures of various kinds, God offers an even greater fear that far-surpasses any fear that Satan could ever impose if we thought about it seriously. But the fear of God comes with a real and effective antidote that is not like the counterfeits of pleasure that never resolve our fears but only mask them. The comfort of the Holy Spirit is an internal revelation about the real truth about the God that has so much potential for death in our lives. This very same God whose very presence can cause the most damage to our souls and bodies is really the source of all life, hope and love if we will allow the Holy Spirit to repair our damaged perceptions about Him.

The verse from 2 Corinthians tells me the kind of things the fear of God should produce in my life. Instead of the counterfeit fear that corrupt authorities use that produces only pain and death, God's induced fear will compel me to cleanse myself from all defilement of flesh and spirit. This kind of fear motivates me toward holiness, and holiness means total dedication to one purpose or person which in this case is God Himself. Holiness is being in proper alignment or relationship to the dangerous but life-giving Source of all power.

Defilement of flesh and spirit is the condition of resistance and condemnation that I will find myself in when I do not have the authorities in my life in proper alignment. I must first and most of all keep God's authority above all others, but within that context I must also try to live at peace with all men (12:18) including proper authorities in my life. Increasingly, as those authorities set themselves against the authority of God in my life I will find myself in conflict with their demands on me and will suffer accordingly. But I must also learn from the example of Jesus in how He related to corrupt authorities how to be respectful and be subject to them without being contaminated by their evil spirit. That will definitely take the ministry of the Holy Spirit within me to accomplish in my life, but that is the role of the Spirit and I have to trust Him to do His job effectively.

The more I consider the response of Jesus to Pilate's attempt to control Him with the counterfeit fear of earthly authority, the clearer this is becoming to me. This exchange is reported in John 19 and reveals some very important principles about relating to authorities. Pilate claimed that he had the authority of life and death over Jesus. In saying this he was really attempting to assert himself in the place of God, the true Authority of life and death. To this Jesus answered that Pilate really had no authority at all except as a subservient to the real authority of heaven. I believe it was vital that Jesus made it very plain that He would not accept as fact the assertions that Pilate was trying to make about authority. What Jesus did acknowledge and accept was the recognition that God was the real authority in charge and since God had allowed Pilate to act as a surrogate for that authority temporarily that Jesus would subject Himself to this designated authority on earth as God's will in that moment. But Jesus wanted it to be very clear that He was doing it only as submission to His Father's will and not on the basis which Pilate was using to claim authority.

I notice that not only am I to be cleansed of defilement of the flesh but also of the spirit. This is the core of the real battle and where I need the most healing in my life. It is my spirit that needs the most healing and is the arena where the most transformation needs to take place. I may be able to appear to conform to the demands of relating properly to authorities and follow the letter of the law, but my spirit can be chaffing and become very bitter and angry inside all the while. I have experienced that many times and I know how ineffective it is to accomplish real change or bring me into harmony with God's ways. This is because there is still a great deal of resistance inside, and resistance always produces stress, worry and fear. The real defilement of the flesh and spirit is the resistance to God's authority that must be released before I can experience the peace that I need that comes from being in right relationship with God.

As demonstrated in Acts 9:31, when each of us begins to effectively receive the comfort and transformation of the Holy Spirit, the church will begin to grow exponentially as it did in the early days after Pentecost. I believe that real church growth of the true body of Christ will not come by convincing more people of our doctrines or producing more thrilling worship services, but will be a ground-swell of people coming alive through the internal transformation of their spirit by the convicting and comforting work of the Holy Spirit when it is allowed access to their deepest hearts. It will become more and more powerful as the internal resistance in our hearts is released so that God's Spirit can have full access to our lives and will integrate us into an unstoppable army of love. This is the experience of the heart that I crave and that is reflected in the Psalm that I read this morning.

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? (Psalms 42:1-2 NRSV)

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