Monday, October 10, 2005

Is Fear Good?

October is "Fear Month" to the world. During this month the world celebrates fear, spine-tingling, adrenalin, and dread. Horror shows abound, and many see nothing wrong with delighting in fear.

While I have never had the joy of enjoying the liver quiver some get from fear, I guess some people think it is harmless fun. So is it harmless? I could do some research and come up with the medical results, but I want to focus on something else. Suffice to say the rush you get is a response from your body, thinking it is dying or in danger. Your blood rushes to vital organs (in case of an injury) and you feel very aware of everything going on (in case you are attacked). You make up your own mind whether or not that is physically healthy.

My question is this: Is fear a good and right thing for us to play with? Is it ever good? Are there different kinds of fear, and what does the Bible say about it?

The Bible has much to say about fear. Most of it is fear of the Lord; who had it, what its value is, and how to get it. What you see everywhere look in October is another kind of fear. God's Word addresses this also.

Contrast any of those Halloween horrors to what God says about good fear: "The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever." Psalms 19:9 I think we can safely say that stuff is unclean. Think about how it makes you feel inside. Is it clean? Does it stay with you because it is based in truth? It doesn't really does it? It needs darkness and night to be strong and it fades in the light of day and reality doesn't it? That's because it is NOT legitamate fear. Legitimate fear will be clean, and will endure forever. That does not mean it is not real. But we need to seek God's rememdy for fear when we find ourself ensnared by it. He provided power over all sin, even fear.

I will post on this more all through this month. Next will be "The snare of fear"

7 comments:

Corene said...

Our church is having a "Harvest Festival" on the 31st. This is so that the kids can have good clean fun with out all the stuff that goes on at this time.

Sarah Joy said...

Pastors face a real delemma when trying to think of what to do about the Halloween celebration. So many people are determined that their children should not miss out on the fun that they feel they need to provide an alternative. I have no problem with that. I love what the church at my college did during October. It was harvest month and a great push for outreach. Every Sunday there was an opportunity to dress up in some way. Old fashioned, western, international, etc. When Halloween came everyone was tired of it! They provided a festival for the bus kids and some of the church kids got involve, but most everyone else got their dressing up bug out by then.

Corene said...

I remember as a kid dressing up and going to Mom and Dad with a plastic pumkin saying, "Trick or Treat". I never got anything. :(

Sarah Joy said...

HEY it's worth a try!!! That's funny.

Her said...

The celebration of "fear" as the world does it lessons the rightful fear of God. They can be scared by creatures and gross stuff, but have no fear of dieing without Christ.
Their fear is misplaced. Hope that made sense. It does in my mind.

Her said...

oops, typo!
I meant lessens-not lessons
:)

Jamie said...

OH I am intrigued by this Sarah..I cant wait to read more. :)