Sabbath Devotional :: The Artifice of Fear

“God hath not given us the spirit of fear.” ~2 Timothy 1:7

“Perfect love casteth out fear.” ~ 1 John 4:18

Fear is a frequently invoked motivating force in our world today. Parents use it, marketers use it, and friends use it. It has been used for generations. On the lighthearted end, we have the phrase and culture of “fear of missing out.” On the darker side, we have politicians and forces who use fear to “other” and dehumanize, to divide and stir up conflict intentionally.

Fear-motivated anything can lead to bad results; fear-motivated politics can lead to particularly horrific results, especially when coupled with violent rhetoric. History proves that.

Fear-motivated beliefs and actions are corruptive and destructive. Fear leads to division and hate. It may be powerful in the short term, but ultimately, it is too corrosive for any of us to employ. When we and our societies are motivated by fear, we all suffer for it.

If fear is so destructive, why do so many of us employ it (even if unintentionally)? Because it can be extremely effective in getting people to act and to act quickly. It can bring people together, at least temporarily. We can also think we are using fear to combat a greater evil, using it for the greater good in a “the end justifies the means” kind of way. We can think that God wants us to use fear to get people to the right place and on the right side.

But all of us who use fear are inadvertently indicating that we don’t believe God’s way is good enough and that we don’t believe love is strong enough. We believe we must take things into our own hands. So instead, we (often inadvertently) use a counterfeit and cheaper motivator to get the results we want quicker and easier and at less personal cost and sacrifice. I do not believe most of us realize that is what we are doing when we attempt to lead others with fear or allow ourselves to be led by fear, but it is at the very heart of why and when we employ fear. It is also not God’s way.

If fear is so corrosive, why do so many of us gravitate to those who employ it? Because it is an easy way to create a semblance of community and love. Mother Teresa said, “Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.” Today, there is a lot of this “hunger.”

In a world where people feel increasingly isolated and misunderstood, fear and “othering” can create a façade of acceptance, being in the in-group, and being understood, seen, and loved. Knowing that you are not the “other” can mean that you belong — at least for a moment.

People desperately seeking love and belonging often settle for the counterfeit of fear-based posturing because communities offering true love and acceptance are often in short supply. So, we settle for fear-based and shifting alliances because it at least dampens our hunger for acceptance. Creating fear-motivated communities is a powerfully employed weapon and also a dangerous drug that sometimes we may not know we’re administering or consuming.

God does not operate through an ethic of fear. The scriptures expressly say that “God hath not given us the spirit of fear.” No, God isn’t the source of fear-based politics. No, that’s employed by other people and for other reasons.

Why? “Fear rarely has the power to change our hearts, and it will never transform us into people who love what is right,” said Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Fear inherently breaks down the communities and unity that those employing it often are trying to find.

Perfect love casteth out fear; it’s also how we find genuine acceptance, belonging, unity, and peace. Perfect love is the predicate of creating the Beloved Community or Zion. It’s the foundation from which everything else must be built and the essential building material throughout the entire construction. To change metaphors, it is also the essential lifeblood and the living water of the Beloved Community or Zion.

Perfect love is also not easy. It requires work, patience, longsuffering, meekness, and clear sight. “You can love all [beings] perfectly if you love the one God in them all,” Mother Teresa said.

If we want to eradicate fear-based politics from our communities, we must first eradicate them from ourselves. Perfect love requires trusting God, trusting others, rolling up our sleeves, getting to work, and staying in the work that is often not glamorous and is often painful. It’s the work we are called to do, and we must be ever on guard to ensure we aren’t employing the artifice of fear instead.