Driven by Fear

Too often I believe that we Christians are driven by the one thing we are commanded more times than anything else not to do; fear. We fear our rights being taken away. We fear the liberals (or conservatives, depending on your political leanings). We fear the LGBT crowd, Black Lives Matter, Marxists, and pretty much anything that doesn't look and sound exactly like us. 

Simply put, we Christians seem to be afraid of more things than most people.

This is, of course, antithetical to what it means to be a follower of Christ. To follow Jesus should mean that we are a people driven out of love, compassion, and mercy. We are commanded throughout scripture over and over again to not fear, but here we are anyway driven so often by fear.

Jesus said that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church. Do we actually believe that? It would seem to me that many of us don't. We think that just because the wrong candidate is elected president or if the wrong judges are appointed Christianity will fall. You might think that is an exaggeration, but after surveying Facebook and Twitter this past election year I don't think it is. 

Does this mean that we should throw caution to the wind and welcome any and every idea, movement, and message with open arms? Of course not. Some of the things we often fear are in fact negative things that promote ungodly behavior and morals. Still, the response should never be to recoil in fear but to engage thoughtfully with love, holiness, and virtue.

Fear drives us into an "us vs. them" mentality. When we fear a movement or idea we inevitably end up fearing and hating the people who hold them. That is unacceptable. As Paul said, "Our enemy is not flesh and blood." People, no matter how different they are from us or even how much they may hate us, are never the enemy. They are the mission.

Fear dictates that the only way to survive is to grab power and hold onto it for as long as possible. I think this explains quite a bit about our obsession with politics; it's all about power. The problem is that Jesus expressly condemns hungering for power "like the Gentiles do." He commands us to follow his example, to serve and give our lives for others.

Does this mean that we should, as Christians, abstain from political discussion and activity altogether? I don't think so. It means that our goal in politics and government is not the same as the world's. Our goal, rather than power and control, is the benefit of our neighbors and communities. It's hard to lose at a game you aren't even playing.

Remember that our trust and hope is Jesus alone. Whatever nasty things the world cooks up to attempt to destroy us or undermine the church, we can rest easy knowing that Jesus has overcome the world. When we fall into fear we are essentially saying that we trust more in the power of darkness than we do the Messiah.