Proverbs 29:25
(ESV) “The fear of man lays a snare, he who trusts in the Lord is safe.”
(NASB) “The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted”
Fear can cause people to do really stupid things, and it can also cause people to do really heroic things at times. I think for myself, fear is probably one of the strongest emotions in motivating me. I think it is a very strong emotion for motivating most people. Everybody is afraid of certain things, but we are all afraid of different things. If you know what someone is afraid of, you know a lot about that person. What we are afraid of shows a lot about who we are and what matters to us.
Fear of man:
Being afraid of what people think.
Being afraid of what people can do.
Being afraid of peoples' opinions.
What is the result of having a fear of people?
A snare, or a trap
You can use snares for hunting and trapping animals.
It catches you, it binds you up, and it causes you to lose your freedom and maybe kill you.
It is usually hidden, unexpected.
You can't do what you know you should do and what to do for God when you are afraid of men, you are bound up by the fear of man.
You start to try to do what is safe instead of what is right, you avoid ruining your image.
The fear of man never operates alone
There are often other sins in the picture:
Pride – if you are proud of yourself you are afraid of what other people might think of you.
Unbelief
Selfishness – worried about self, and therefore not worried about God and the right things.
Biblical examples of the fear of man
Saul, 1 Samuel 15 (Did not destroy all the Amalekites)
Aaron, Exodus 32 (Creating the golden calf to appease the people)
Peter, Matthew 26 (Denying Christ)
It isn't even as if Peter is being interrogated, but it's just people around the courtyard questioning him – but he has such fear of being taken up with Jesus. He is totally consumed with fear.
Peter, Galatians 2:11 (Siding with the circumcision)
Paul had to rebuke Peter over this thing, and it says his motivation was that Peter feared the party of the circumcision. So here is another example of Peter falling into this later. This is not just something that is a problem for new Christians, but even mature Christians have to deal with this at times.
Abraham, (Saying Sarah was his sister) Genesis 12:11-13
He is noted in the Bible for his faith! And yet the Bible is very honest in showing the sins and flaws of heroes like Abraham – he was not always a man of faith. He had this problem twice – again in chapter 20. Yet we do the same thing with other sins. We fall into them, repent, and then commit them later on! These things are written for our instruction and we can see how people like Abraham and Peter fell. This is a warning to us to learn from our mistakes when we make them!
He is putting his wife in a position of great vulnerability to save his own skin. This is the fear of man in a big way.
Elijah, (Running from Jezebel) 1 Kings 19
Pharisees, (Afraid of angering the people by answering Jesus' questions)
Israelites, (Fear of the Canaanites)
Jonah, (Ran from God to avoid Nineveh)
Fearing man with regard to witness, or our ministry
Fearing man instead of trusting God to play it safe actually puts us in more danger and does not give us what we desire. When Jonah ran from God he was swallowed by a big fish, and we are always caught in our sins of fearing man and are worse off than when we just trust in God.
Israelites, (Fearing Goliath) 1 Samuel 17:11
Pilate, (Listening to the people and crucifying Christ) John 19
Many of the proverbs are written in couplets: “Don't do this, but do this.” This Proverb is written that way. How does not fearing man fit with trusting God?
If you are afraid of men and act based off of that instead of what God says, you are no longer fearing God.
Even if you are afraid of what happens, and you still trust God out of faith, you will be kept safe.
Isaiah 51:12 “I, I am He who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass...”
There is the contrast: Are we going to trust God to take care of us or fear men? Even the scariest people are going to die, are like grass, and need the same things we need. There is no reason to fear man.
Luke 12:4-5 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear Him who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell.”
The worst man can do to us is take our lives, and for the Christian that is nothing to fear! The real concern is God, who can kill your body and send you to Hell!
When you are fearing man rather than trusting God, you are saying the favor, approval, or protection of people is better than what God can give us!
This amounts to idolatry – replacing God with something else makes that thing an idol.
It is wicked and dishonoring to God.
Sharing the gospel at school or at work.
We know the gospel is not going to be well received by most folks, the Bible itself says that it is unpopular! Yet Jesus tells us to go out and be lights in the world.
It's really unlikely that someone will beat you or yell at you when you share the gospel with them. Probably the worst our persecution will be is a smirk or a comment, yet that will often keep us from sharing.
Not laughing at inappropriate jokes or speaking up against sin/sinful comments to avoid confrontation.
Doing a good deed or giving people things in front of others (helping someone if they drop their things in public)
Not confessing sin to others or seeking out help.
It is important to be humble and vulnerable and not to pretend like we are perfect – do new Christians come in and get the feeling like you don't struggle at all?
God has put the church together with people full of different gifts. The body can't function and help each other if there is no communication of needs!
Trying to encourage other believers.
Especially if they have been a Christian for longer – the thought tends to be that there is nothing you can say that they don't know!
But every Christian is encouraged by the same truth.
Getting to know people and letting people know you.
Genuine relationships – being what we are instead of what we think a good impression would look like.
Dealing with the sin of others.
Jesus tells us to bring up sins we see in others' lives. It is more loving to confront someone than to let them continue on hurting themselves by sinning.
The area of parenting – being afraid your kids won't like you if you correct them too much
Being afraid to make decisions in your family because you want to make everyone happy
Pastors being afraid of their congregations opinions, or of people who want their ears tickled
People not wanting to preach the truth or leaving out certain truths
The fear of man keeps people from becoming Christians in the first place
It keeps religious people from admitting they are lost
It keeps people who are afraid of their friends opinions from seeking help
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