Fear of Man

This article was originally published here, on November 21, 2008.

"The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe" (Prov. 29:25, ESV).

Do you worry about what other people think about you? Do you feel the crushing pressure to think, act or appear a certain way? Are you afraid to relax? Afraid to let people see the real you? Solomon tells us that this way of thinking is a snare. This way of thinking holds us prisoner to others opinions and strips us of safety. When we live in the fear of man we cannot please God. How different would the ministries of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, or any of the prophets for that matter, have been if they had let their fear determine what they would say and do? Instead of yielding to their fear of man, they trusted in the Lord.

Did trusting the Lord keep them safe? Yes and No. It did not keep them safe in the sense that everything was perfect. They faced ridicule, abuse, rejection, hardship, and so on. Trusting in the Lord did not spare them from the wrath of man, but it did keep them safe from the wrath of God. Their obedience was pleasing to the Lord and he preserved them through all of their difficulties and continued to care for them.

Speaking of the fear of man, Jesus said, "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28, ESV). Jesus stresses the futility of fearing man by expressing the limitations that man has. Man can only kill the body. In one sense, the killing of the body is a temporal thing. It does not determine where a person will exist after death, only that they are no longer alive. However, God not only has the power to terminate life, but the authority to determine where a person exists after that termination. We creatures are finite by nature, and thus our actions against each other have only finite consequences. God is eternal, thus our actions against him have eternal consequences.

The fear of the Lord has to do with hating evil (Prov. 8:13), it is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7) and the key to insight (Prov. 9:10). The fear of the Lord is not fear in the sense of terror. The Lord is not like some masked gunman breaking into our life or some crazed axe-wielding maniac. The fear of the Lord is a humble submission to his sovereignty that produces a life of trusting obedience and dependency. It is a life that looks to him to see what should be done next, because he alone possesses wisdom. As we follow in his footsteps, he leads us safely in the paths that please him most, draws us to himself, and sustains us by his power. Don't give in to the fear of man; it is a trap that will draw you away from God and away from safety. Look to the Lord who lovingly sustains you, and rest in him.