Fear of God vs. Fear of Man

One of the things that God is constantly bringing attention to me is the importance of discipleship.  It was the foundation of Christ's ministry and it was through his disciples that Christ's ministry continued.  I've been praying for a long time for someone to disciple in Venezuela.  There's a particular young lady from our church that I've been wanting to disciple for about a year, but for some reason I just never got around to it, until now.  This thursday we're going to start a weekly Bible study together and while I was working on the lesson, I thought it would be a good one for the blog.

This lesson comes from a sermon I heard back while I was attending Summit church in Durham.  I still remember this sermon as if it was yesterday.  It really impacted my life and showed me the root of a lot of my sin and a lot of my mistakes.

When we think of fear we think of scary movies, spiders, and snakes.  However, in Proverbs 1:7 when it says Knowledge begins with fear of the Lord...its not talking about scary fear.  The Hebrew word for fear in this verse is yiraw which means awe, reverece, and respect.  Its how you would feel if you were in the presence of your god.  For example, if your god is football, you would be in heaven if you had 50-yard line tickets to the Superbowl. Or if your god was money and status, you would be in awe to see a huge mansion and the most exclusive sports car available.  For Christians, the thing that should awe us the most is being in the presence of God.  However, realistically we get so entangled with the world that we lose sight of this.

In the Bible time and time again, one of the main causes of sin is fearing man over fearing God.  Its placing the importance of human beings, of pleasing them, being like them, being better than them over the importance of God.  Its basically idolatry. Its also caring more about what man can do to you than can God.

Abraham, Isaac, Saul (read 1 Samuel 15), Peter, Jonas...all of them either lied, agreed to do something they shouldn't or tried to escape from God out of the fear that they had of people.  Some feared for their lives, some feared rejection.

The Pharisees, they loved the praises and the glory that they got from man from being law masters.  They loved it more than the glory of God. 

Cain and Abel - Cain was competitive and did not like that Abel's sacrifice was accepted over his, so the first murder was committed.

Adam and Eve - Adam ate the apple because Eve asked him too, even though he knew that he shouldn't have...looks a lot like peer pressure. 

So, what are some of the everyday things that we do that clearly show that we fear man more than we fear God. 

• When we weigh opinions of others more than God's word.
• When we do things out of peer pressure.
• When the thought of leaving your house without make-up terrifies you.
• If you're a perfeccionist or failure scares the crap out of you.
• If you worry or get too upset about what people say, have said, or will say about you.
• If you're really competitive and you always have to win.  
• If you always try to have better stuff than your neighbor.
• If you're always the center of attention.
• If you respond badly to criticism.  
• If you always try to minimize your failiures.  
• If you can't say no to people.
• If fear of rejection haunts your relationships.  
• If you're obsessed about getting married or being in a relationship.
• If you're obsessed with dieting or your physical image.
• If you secretly feel that you are not enough, just the way you are.  
• If your service to God is more about getting praise than building God's praise.
• If you've ever been too shy to share the gospel. 
• There's so much more than this, but these are just a few examples.

We look to people instead of God for approval and love and that's when our identity gets all messed up.  When we understand the depth of God's love for us and how important He is in our lives we see that the obsession we have with man and other idols is linked to a problem in our own relationship with God.

Nobody can satisfy us like our God.  But, we don't trust Him...we'd rather make our own lesser gods.  But in the end, they'll leave you even more empty and disappointed than in the beginning.
Psalm 115:4-8 ~  Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.  They have mouths, but they cannot see.  They have ears, but they cannot hear. They have noses, but they cannot smell.  They have hands, but they cannot feel.  They have feet, but they cannot walk.  No sounds come from their throats.  People who make idols will be like them, and so will all who trust them.  We become what we worship.  What do you truly look like?

The opposite of fear of man is trust in God and knowing that He is truly enough no matter the situation and no matter the circumstances.  Trust the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. - Proverbs 3:5  Jesus said, Don't let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God, and trust in me."  John 14:1