Overcoming Fear, Worry, and AnxietySample

Day 4: Fearing others

In the New Testament, we find other people who struggled with their fear of others. For example, there were the Jewish believers who had come to Christ but were afraid to tell others about their conversion. This is how the New Testament describes their dilemma:

“Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” —John 12:42-43

Some of the Jewish religious leaders had come to faith in Christ. They knew that He was the Messiah, and they had seen the truth of His claims. But they had a problem: They knew that if they confessed their faith, they would be excommunicated—they would be put out of the synagogue. I’m sure you can imagine how difficult their situation was. The synagogue, for the ancient Jew, was not like the modern church is today. Today if our beliefs conflict with our church’s, we can easily pack up and move elsewhere. But that’s not how it was for them. They had one synagogue, and they had an obligation to support it. All of their social and economic life was tied to the associations in the group. If they were put out of the synagogue, they were, in essence, put out of every social and business relationship in their life.

Notice that John doesn’t say that their problem was one of poor self-esteem or feelings of inferiority. No, he pinpoints their problem as being a problem of love. What did they love more than the approval of God? The approval of man. What did they long for more than the praise that would come to them from God: “Well done, good and faithful servant”? They loved the praise of their peers. In fact, they loved it so much that they disobeyed Christ’s command to witness for Him.

REFLECTION

Is there any person (or group of people) that you find yourself fearing? Spend some time praying for this person or these people, asking God to give you a Christlike love for them—a love that doesn’t concern itself with how others respond to you.