Fear.
In the biblical sense it's a much broader word than we use today. It includes being afraid of someone, but it also extends to holding someone in awe, being controlled or mastered by people, worshipping other people, putting your trust in people, or even-- needing people. However you put it, "the fear of man" can be summarized this way: we replace God with people. Instead of biblically guided fear of the Lord, we fear others. Of course, the "fear of man" goes by other names. When we are in our teens it's called peer pressure, when we are older we call it "people pleasing", and most recently it goes by the name "co-dependency". With these labels in mind we can spot the fear of man in our lives:
1) Are you over-committed? Do you find it hard to say no, even when wisdom tells you you should? You are a people pleaser, another euphemism for the "fear of man".
2) Is self-esteem a critical concern for you? If self-esteem is a reoccurring theme for you, chances are, your life revolves around what others think. You are controlled by the "fear of man", because you need them to fill you up and be a buttress for your sense of well-being and identity.
3) Do you ever feel like you may be exposed as an imposter? The sense of being exposed is another expression of ---you guessed it--- the "fear of man." It means that the opinions of other people--- especially their possible opinion that you are a failure---are able to control you.
4) Are you always second-guessing your decisions because of what other people might think? Are you afraid of looking bad in their eyes??
5) Do you feel empty and meaningless? Do you experience "love hunger"? Here again, you need others to fill you, and you are controlled by them.
6) Do you get easily embarrassed? If so, people and their perceived opinions probably define you. Or, to use biblical language, you exalt the opinions of others to the point where you are ruled by them.
7) Do you tend to lie to other people, especially those little white lies? Lying and other forms of living in the dark are forms of making ourselves look better before others. It also covers our shame before them.
8) Are you jealous of other people? You are controlled by them and their possessions.
9) Do other people often make you angry or depressed? Do they drive you crazy? If so, they probably are the controlling center of your life.
10) Do you avoid people? Even if you do not need people, you are still controlled by them. Isn't a hermit dominated by the "fear of man"?
11) Aren't diets, even under the heading of 'health' still dedicated to impressing others? The desire for the praise of men is one of the ways that we exalt people above God.
>Have all of these descriptions missed the mark? Perhaps the most dangerous "fear of man" is the 'successful' fear of man. Such people think that they have made it. They have more than other people. They feel good about themselves. But their lives are still controlled by other people rather than what God thinks.<
This is the first post in a series on peer pressure. :) I figured I would start with something to get you thinking. . .I don't know about any of you, but I didn't think that I struggled much with the "fear of man" until I started reading a book by Edward T. Welch, called, "When People are big and God is Small". I know that this hit me really hard about many different ways that I am paranoid about driving my life to impress others. It isn't so easy to say that peer pressure isn't a big deal, huh?
Walk worthy, guys.
