“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe” - Proverbs 29:25
On Sunday, as we considered Paul’s experience in Acts 25, we came face to face with the biblical concept and all too real reality of “the fear of man.” What does it mean to “fear” other people? As author and counselor, Edward Welch says, in his very helpful book, “When People Are Big And God Is Small,” “the “fear” in “fear of man”: “…includes being afraid of someone, but it extends to holding someone in awe, being controlled or mastered by people, worshipping other people, putting your trust in people, needing people” in other words, replacing God with people.
Ask yourself, are you struggling with the fear of man? Do you find yourself rising and falling based on the opinions or estimations of others? Do you battle with the thought that those around you are silently judging you? Are you discouraged by your performance or perceived lack of fruitfulness as you find yourself continually making comparisons between yourself and others? Are you agonizing over acceptance, approval, or affirmation from others that you’re hoping to receive?
To face these fears, we need to get down to their roots. To help us do this, Welch outlines 3 fundamental categories explaining the ways in which we experience the fear of man to give us some handles for what is happening in our hearts:
1. Shame fear - We fear people because they can expose or humiliate us. Our IDENTITY is at stake.
2. Rejection fear - We fear people because they can reject, ridicule, or despise us. Our STATUS is at stake.
3. Threat fear - We fear people because they can attack, oppress, or threaten us. Our SECURITY is at stake.
In what ways are you believing other people can undermine or offer you identity, status, and security? Both as it relates to those without and even within the church. How are external threats we perceive from others or internal comparisons we make between ourselves and others gaining control over us? Consider these questions this week. Talk about them with your spouse or a friend. Discuss them in small group.
Get to the roots, then rest in gospel freedom
Face these fears by examining your hearts and getting to the roots of them - but don’t stop there. If the fear of man is believing that other people can give or take those things away from us, ask yourself how believing the gospel of Jesus Christ sets you free from fear. Recall what we heard in Sunday’s sermon and resist the fear of man by resting in gospel freedom. Remind yourselves, that in the gospel, God gives to us an identity, status, and security that cannot be lost. Apply that gospel to your own heart and help each other to do so as well as you have conversations and gather in small group.
IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC OR FIND THE FEAR OF MAN TO BE A PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT STRUGGLE, GET A COPY OF EDWARD WELCH’S, “WHEN PEOPLE ARE BIG AND GOD IS SMALL” HERE.
