A Thought For The Week Of March 20, 2017

"Come, my children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord." (Psalm 34:11.) That is actually such an important thing to learn. There are so many Christians (and far too many preachers) who should know better and yet who insist on taking this concept (in English) absolutely literally, so that God becomes one to be feared rather than one to be worshipped; God becomes one who is looking for an excuse to punish us rather than one who loves us unconditionally. All because the Bible talks about "the fear of the Lord," and either (a) people latch onto the word "fear" without trying to understand what the word actually means, or (b) people do understand what the word means but choose to ignore that and use it to instil fear into people. And so many people - trusting those who focus on judgement and divine wrath - become afraid of God or reject the very idea of God as monstrous. It seems to me that logic (aside from the Hebrew language) tells us that God can't be both a God of love and at the same time a God who wants those he loves to be afraid of him. Those things are inconsistent with each other. So even without complicated language studies one can see that both can't be true. The Hebrew language also doesn't tell us to fear God. Indeed, in this passage -where we are instructed to teach people what "the fear of the Lord" is -  there's very little to be afraid of in what we learn of God. Instead, what we find here is primarily the promise of God to stand with us always, and the assurance that even if things aren't good, God is still with us. That reminds me of the words of Jesus: "I am with you always ..." That's an awe-inspiring thought, which is, of course, what Psalm 34:11 is actually saying. To fear God is to be awestruck by God, and it's tragic that so many people don't understand that and believe only that God is to be literally feared. But surely we shouldn't be afraid of the one who loves us unconditionally. I came across a translation of this verse that said "I will teach you to REVERE and WORSHIPFULLY fear the Lord." That captures what the response of a Christian to God should be, and it's not the same as being afraid of God. We should never be afraid of the one who loves us unconditionally and who showers us with grace.