Fear’s Logic

The sluggard says,
“There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!”  (Proverbs 22:13 ESV).
    Not only does the sluggard say that, the fearful do, too. Could it be that having too much time on one’s hands contributes to fear?
 
    Fear is a faith disorder. It has varying degrees. It can increase to the point of being characterized by systematized delusions and the projection of personal conflicts, which are ascribed to the supposed hostility of others and aggressive acts believed to be performed in self-defense or as a mission. Fear can form a baseless and an excessive suspicion of the motives of others.  It’s a faith disorder characterized by systematized delusions, especially of persecution or grandeur.
    Paranoia is a more extreme form of fear. One who suffers from paranoia is paranoid. In popular terminology, a “paranoid” personality is characterized by suspicion and distrust of others; a tendency to look for hidden meaning (conspiracies) behind other people's actions; argumentativeness; complaining; low tolerance for criticism; and a constant display of one's own talents, accomplishments, independence, and rationality.” 
    I know a retired policeman that experienced so many traumatic situations in life that when he retired he built eight-foot walls around his house and bought a steel bar for the door. His supply of arms was extensive. He is convinced that he is not afraid. Fear has its own logic.
    I can imagine that many policemen can get paranoid because of trauma. Many blacks, also, because of ill treatment by some whites live in fear. Just think what bad things can happen when a paranoid cop encounters a paranoid suspect.  When two fearful dogs look each other in the eye “anarchy” ensues. 
    There are various degrees of fear. Some fear is needed for protection. Paranoia is an extreme form. The first thing a paranoid person will swear is that he is not paranoid. He really believes that his fear is well founded and is logical. Based on his underlying presupposition, he’s right. His fear is logical. But the problem is that his presupposition is wrong. His fear can be baseless, but fear has its own logic.
    Even though only trace amounts of TCE had been found in the Boston school and the levels were within safety standards, the obese chain-smoking mother insisted that the school be closed. “The school could give our children cancer!”  Notice how the personality is characterized by suspicion and distrust of others, a tendency to look for hidden meaning (conspiracies).
    The Bible says, “fear involves torment.” “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1John 4:18). Loving the one who threatens you takes special grace. True converts have special grace; false ones only have common grace. With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
    There is no way to debate a fearful person and win. They will swear with deep conviction that they are not afraid and that their fear is 100% reasonable. Their logic is infallible because it is based on their fear. The fearful personality is characterized by suspicion and distrust of others.
    A man from a formerly communist nation told me that this is the way it is in his country. The country’s years of tyranny makes everyone suspicious of others as being a possible spy for the government. He said they don’t notice this fear until they live in the U.S. awhile and go back for a visit.
    Now don’t get me wrong. There is a place for being wise and careful. But the fearful person can’t tell the difference.


Fear Of Man Versus Fear Of God
“And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin’” (Exodus 20:20).

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov 1:7).
A Cure For Fear
    A contributing factor for fear could be that the fearful person has too much time on his hands. “The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!” (Proverbs 22:13 ESV). Just plain hard work can restore sanity. I heard about a father who would make his sons dig holes and refill them just to keep them from getting bored. That’s better than lying around watching television, but it would be better yet to work on a project toward a productive goal.
My Struggle With Fear
    At an early age I learned that two things contribute to overcoming fear.
1.)    Honesty with self and a clear conscience. When I was running with a gang at age 11, one night on my way home, I imagined that the whole world was after me every time I saw headlights. It was my telltale conscience. That was easily overcome when I quit stealing and quit running with bad boys.
2.)    The other way to overcome fear is to never let it defeat you. If you once give in to fear, it will rule you with more and more strength.
    A little healthy fear can be useful, however. Daredevil stunts can be plain stupid. The first time I jumped off a roof to clean windows in a boson chair was scary. I thoroughly checked and re-checked my ropes, each one tied in a separate place. But if you let fear take over, all the logic in the world will not convince you to jump. Fear has its own logic.
    I knew a salesman that would go into a panic attack as soon as he got 20 miles from home. I suspect that in some cases an adrenaline rush can cause that. Other times, I just don’t know the cause. But it seems to be physical. Trauma can cause an imprint on the soul that convinces one that something bad is going to happen. It’s a feeling, a passion that vetoes all reason. Fear has its own logic. “Fear hath torment” (1 John 4:18 KJV).
    The fear that has no torment, the healthiest fear of all is the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” The fear of God kept me from being a much worse sinner than I already was. It kept me from damaging others more than I did already. “Fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones” (Prov 3:7-8).
    Solomon Stoddard wrote a sermon called, “The Fear Of Hell Makes Men Live Moral Lives.” They might not get saved, but at least they’ll get closer to the Kingdom. It is true, however, that no one can be scared into conversion. On the other hand, the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. God uses fear to wake men up.
Judging Others Can Make Us Fear
“Abraham said, ‘Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife’” (Gen 20:11).
    Fear is characterized by suspicion and distrust of others. Fearful people are always looking for the bogeyman, a devil behind every bush. They’re always warning of a soon coming crash. “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!” And they can give you all the good sound reasons for it. Their message is, “Store up food because the crash is coming.” To them it’s a doomsday world. The antichrist will take over at any time now. Things are getting worse and worse. And if you contradict them they get mad. They get mad because their fear is a form of madness.
The Truth About Doomsday
    The truth is that things have never been better. There is more freedom in the world than ever in history. In 100 A.D. there was only one Christian for every 360 people in the world. In 1989 there was one for every seven. Now there is one for every three and still growing. The average life span in 1840 was forty. Now it is eighty. Death from wars has hit an all-time low since the high in 1947. There is no evidence whatsoever that doomsday is imminent. 
    Fear is a “faith disorder” characterized by systematized delusions and the projection of personal conflicts. The media contributes to it because good news does not sell.
Running From God
    Some people are afraid of God in a bad sense. That’s not the same as a healthy fear of God. They run and hide from God. Heaven and earth have fled from God’s face (Rev 20:11). Cowards are the first on the list of those who will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev 21:8). If they’re not afraid of God, they’re afraid of men. “The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe” (Prov 29:25). “No one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews” (John 7:13). “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed” (Luke 9:26).
    When James Guthrie victoriously climbed the steps to be hung he said he climbed these steps with less fear than when he climbed the steps to the pulpit.

He lifted the handkerchief from his face and shouted to the crowd, "The covenants, the covenants, shall yet be Scotland's reviving!" Even in death he was optimistic about the future.
    Besides love casting out fear, the other powerful weapon is faith in the sovereignty of God and His love for His elect. The devil and his agents can do nothing without God’s permission. Nothing. “I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, [nor police brutality] nor height nor depth, [nor statism] nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39).
When Fearful Cops Stop Fearful Suspects
    I know a Calvinist that got stopped by a cop. Since it was evident that this man was a foreigner, the cop kept probing with questions. When asked if he had a gun, he would not answer. He was afraid it might not be a real cop but a thief. Fear is unbelief. In his formerly communist country everyone is suspicious. No one trusts anyone. Fear, suspicion, and distrust of others; a tendency to look for hidden meaning (conspiracies) behind other people's actions prevailed. As a result backup was called in, they thoroughly searched his car, and he says they broke his computer. (So much for Calvinists that do not believe Romans 8:28.)
    Since that experience, the typical fearful “argumentativeness and complaining” about police brutality consumed him with the typical fearful person’s “constant display of his own talents, accomplishments, independence, and rationality.”  He even went so far as to develop a doctrine that makes God’s command to submit to the authorities of no effect and says we do not need policemen. He reasons that since some cops are bad, we do not need police. He teaches that the commands of Scripture to submit to the civil magistrate no longer apply. He even says parents should not teach their kids to obey the police. All of this is based on a fear that presumes that policemen are bad. This is a very gifted man, but fear, in the hands of a gifted person can inspire unbelief and rebellion that is very convincing to the novice, to the rebel, or to the lazy.
    Fear never met a conspiracy it did not like.   

Quote from Israel Wayne:
"Fear (worry) is always caused by unbelief. We do not believe or trust God when we fear. Our belief in His sovereignty is shaken. We forget that nothing can happen to us that does not filter through His all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving hands. Worry is failing to believe that God will always act in the most loving and caring way on our behalf.
"Another way of looking at this is that we will always be fearing something. We will either be fearing the Lord (having proper awe, reverence, and respect for who He is), or we will fear our situation, circumstance, and/or future. Just as we will always be worshiping something (either God, a false god, or ourselves), we cannot escape the mutually exclusive nature of the fear that is attached to worship. We will fear whatever we have put our trust in (money, security, etc.)."
    from the chapter "Why Are You Afraid?" (on Fear), from my new book, "Questions Jesus Asks"

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