By: Dale Weckbacher
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given
us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
NKJV
Decisions made in fear are usually bad decisions. Since 2 Timothy 1:7 reminds us that fear is
not from God, it is safe to say that decisions based upon any fear other than a
reverential fear of God are not decisions made with soundness of mind. We therefore must not allow fear to motivate
our decisions.
However, history is full of fear-based decisions that
usually end up with disastrous results.
Even biblical history records fear based decisions with disastrous
results.
1)
Fear caused Abram to allow Pharaoh to believe
Sarai was not his wife but his sister (Genesis 12:10-20). He based his decision upon fear that Pharaoh
would have him killed in order to take his wife. This fear-based decision on Abram’s part may
have protected Abram from death but it placed Sarai in danger for Pharaoh and
his men might have slept with Sarai believing she was not married. Thankfully for Sarai’s sake, God sent a
plague upon Pharaoh and his men, preventing them from sinning with Sarai. However, the decision had consequences for
once Pharaoh discovered the deception, he ordered Abram and his people to leave
Egypt, preventing Abram from finding refuge from the famine in the Egypt.
2)
Fear caused David to murder Uriah (2 Samuel11). This is an instance where we see
how one’s sin escalates into another sin.
This escalation of sin is rooted in the fear of being caught in ones
sin. This account begins with David
committing the sin of adultery with Bathsheba resulting in her becoming
pregnant with David’s son. David then embarks
on a cover up to conceal his sin. First,
he brings Uriah home to be with his wife in the hopes people will believe the
child belongs to Uriah. However, when
Uriah refuses to sleep with his wife, David’s sin escalates into murder. Once the prophet Nathan reveals David’s sin
to him (2 Samuel 12:1-15), David repents (Psalm 51). However, David’s fear based decision has
consequences and results in his kingdom experiencing constant warfare (2 Samuel12:10), the loss of his wives (2 Samuel 12:11), and the loss of the son he
conceived with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:16-23).
3)
Fear of rejection and his life caused Peter to
deny Jesus three times (Matthew 26:69-75).
After witnessing the arrest and trial of Jesus, Peter had fear for his
life if they discovered he was a follower of Jesus. As a poor fisherman from Galilee, there was
also the possibility Peter feared rejection by the religious leaders in
Jerusalem that had just found Jesus guilty of the sin of blasphemy. The consequences of Peter’s fear based
decision was a fear of rejection by Jesus, the one he had proclaimed Lord
(Matthew 16:16). Thankfully, Peter’s
fear of eternal rejection by Jesus was unfounded with his restoration in John21:15-19 with the prophecy that he would die for His Lord due to his refusal to
reject Him.
One thing that has not changed throughout history is the
disaster of fear-based decisions. In our
recent history we have witnessed the decline in our culture especially the
behavior problems in schools that began with the removal of prayer from
schools. (1) This decision to take prayer and the Bible
out of schools goes against the belief in the unalienable rights of citizens as
expressed in the founding documents of the United States. I believe the motivation behind the decision
to remove prayer and the Bible from schools was fear of offending
atheists. Justices erroneously justified
their decision by equating the permission of prayer and the Bible in school to
the establishment of a religion.
More recently, the Supreme Court in the United States has
legalized same sex marriage. (2) Similar to the decision to ban prayer and the
Bible from school, I believe this decision is also based upon a fear of
offending the LGBT society. Unfortunately,
this fear-based decision has resulted in the persecution of those opposing gay
marriage and causing some to lose their businesses (3)
and others to lose their jobs. (4)
Finally, we have the fear-based decision to allow the
borders of the United States to remain open out of fear of offending people
seeking a better life in the United States.
Granted, most of us living in the United States are descendants of
immigrants but for most of us, our ancestors entered the country legally after
immigration officials determined they posed no harm to the citizens of the
nation. The danger of an open borders
immigration policy is that not only does it allow well-meaning people to enter
the nation, it also allows those seeking to commit crimes or even acts of
terrorism to enter. (5) In this instance, a misplaced fear of
offending those seeking to enter the nation illegally has created a genuine
fear of an attack as occurred in Brussels or Paris occurring in the United
States. In fact, the terrorist attack in
San Bernardino may have been a precursor of future events if our leaders
continue to leave the border open out of fear.
In this election we must elect leaders that will make
decisions with a sound mind and not fear based decisions. I believe the Bible represents the best foundation
upon which to base sound-minded decisions and why I prefer candidates that are
not afraid to base their decisions upon the sound principles of the Bible.
1. Starr, Penny. Education Expert: Removing
Bible, Prayer from Public Schools Has Caused Decline. www.cnsnews.com. [Online]
CNSNews.com, August 15, 2014. [Cited: March 26, 2016.]
www.cnsnews.com/news/article/penny-starr/education-expert-removing-bible-prayer-public-schools-has-caused-decline.
2. Barnes, Robert.
Supreme Court Rules Gay Couples Nationwide Have a Right to Marry. www.washingtonpost.com.
[Online] The Washington Post, June 26, 2015. [Cited: March 26, 2016.] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gay-marriage-and-other-major-rulings-at-the-supreme-court/2015/06/25/ef75a120-1b6d-11e5-bd7f-4611a60dd8e5_story.html
3. Smith, Samuel.
Oregon christian Bakers Ordered to Pay $135K After Refusing to Work Gay
Wedding; Told to Stop Speaking About 'ObeyGod, Not Man'. www.christianpost.com.
[Online] The Christian Post, July 3, 2015. [Cited: August 26, 2015.]
www.christianpost.com/news/oregon-christian-bakers-ordered-to-pay-135k-after-refusing-to-work-gay-wedding-told-to-stop-speaking-about-obeying-god-now-man-141137/.
4. Ashburn, Lauren.
Mozilla CEO Out for Opposing Gay Marriage. www.foxnews.com. [Online] Fox
News, April 3, 2014. [Cited: March 26, 2016.]
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/03/mozilla-ceo-out-for-opposing-gay-marriage.html.
5. Dinan, Stephen.
Agents Nab Pakistanis With Terrorist Connections Crossing U.S. Border. www.washingtontimes.com.
[Online] The Washington Times, December 30, 2015. [Cited: March 26, 2016.]
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