Fearing Man
Galatians 1:10 “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Matthew 10:28 “Don't be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Reflecting on my 30 years of ministry I recognize that I made many decisions because I was afraid of what people thought. My experience is probably very similar to yours. Making decisions based on fear can happen to a Pastor, Sunday school teacher, a student at school or in the workplace. Fear will keep you silent when you need to speak and cause you to agree when you need to rebuke. It will cause you to miss out on the supernatural movement of God. It will lock you into tradition and put your spiritual life on cruise control.
Many times I have cowered from stepping out in faith to do what God had said because I was afraid of what someone might think about me. I sought the approval of men rather than God’s approval. I found myself second guessing myself and becoming overly sensitive as to how I might be misunderstood. I was often easily hurt or embarrassed thinking of how well I was liked or accepted. I was crushed when an idea failed and became reluctant to try again. I found it difficult to say no to people’s unreasonable requests, even when God’s wisdom was to go another way. I found it difficult to correct others, fearing that they would be offended or reject my counsel. I often deferred to other’s opinion so that I would not offend someone. I was uncomfortable around my peers and those that were older. I hated standing alone on an issue. The wake up call was when I found myself becoming like those whom I feared who were lukewarm, traditional and prideful. Unbelief, lack of vision and insecurity became my closest friends.
Fear of man is often accompanied by a warped perception of people and situations and is rooted in our self centeredness. John 7:13 says “For no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews.” We are more concerned with “self” than we are of the Lord. Saul experienced this in 1 Samuel 15:24 where he says that he had sinned because he was afraid of his own people. He was more motivated by the approval of man than he was of God. The fear of man says that I am giving myself to your judgment of me and I will allow your evaluation of me to determine my view of myself.
The consequences of this are many including being deceived into trusting in programs and men’s ideas rather the Word of God and being led by the Holy Spirit. This fear keeps us from being a servant of Christ, because we become a servant of men. There is always a loss of joy and faith as you rely on the flesh rather than see the mighty hand of God at work. A word of caution; do not confuse this with accountability and refusing rebuke or counsel. God always uses iron to sharpen iron.
Oswald Sanders wrote “The remarkable thing about fearing God, is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”
The Cure of the Fear of Man:
1. Acknowledge that the fear of man is sin and is keeping you from being the man or woman of God that you so desperately want to be.
2. Go to the Lord in brokenness and repentance asking for His power to turn from this sin. Ask Him for a new anointing (Ephesians 5:18)
3. See this as the Devil’s attack on you to keep you from standing for Jesus. (James 4:7)
4. Be alert to those times when you are tempted to give in to peer pressure.
5. Read biographies of great men of God as to how they stood alone in the company of men who were against the mighty move of God.
