More on Fear

One of the worst ways we hide fear is by hiding behind our Bibles and theology. This happens when knowing all the right answers and being able to correct others becomes more important then knowing and loving God and knowing and loving people. This is often the way of the religious who are afraid of real relationships. We all have been hurt by life and instead of risking more hurt we decide being right is more important than being real and vulnerable. The Bible, and theology can then become tools to actually keep God and people at arms length. This is the way of the Pharisees. Don't get me wrong, the Bible is true and good theology (what we think about God) is important. In fact if we truly understood the word of the Bible and had good theology we would be set free from fear and hiding. Sadly that seems to be too hard for all of us sometimes and for some all the time. So we use our knowledge of the Bible and theological correctness to bully people and keep threats away, we use phrases like 'where is that in the Bible' to protect us from God encounters, and 'that's not biblical' to protect us from changing our minds. As I said, I believe this kind of Pharisaical thinking is rooted in fear. It keeps people isolated, unchangeable and mean. The very antithesis to the heart of God, who wants us in real community, repent, teachable, kind and lovable.