The Power Of Fear

Society Is Controlled By Fear

Not a fear of death—there’s a surprising lack of that. Not a fear of authority, or consequences, or punishment. But rather, society, especially among the younger generation, is controlled by the fear of what other people think.

For example, when is the last time you did something completely and totally out of the norm? Or the last time you did something and didn’t care what people thought, or how your friends looked at you? Or, can you remember the last time you didn’t care if your co-workers thought you were weird?

For most people, myself most definitely included, it’s very hard to think of a time when we didn’t care what other people thought of what we did. It’s kinda a big thing, for high schoolers, and middle schoolers, and adults, and actually, everyone.

We buy fancy new cars because we’re afraid of what our co-workers would think if we drove our old beat-up truck around. We put on the latest, trendiest clothes, because we’re afraid of what our classmates will think if we don’t. We quiet our laughs, shove away our quirks, and try to be like everyone else, or at least, be what everyone else wants us to be.

All because we’re afraid of what other people will think.

And that’s ridiculous.

Totally and completely ridiculous. We’re afraid of other people’s, often people we don’t even like or care about, thoughts?!

Controlled

This is laughable now, yes. But it’s very real. We are a society controlled by a fear of other people. And those other people are controlled by the fear of what we think!

This is why people compare, and put their best, polished, most fake version forwards. We show the world what they want to see, instead of who we really are. We live lives that are entirely different than what we show on our Instagram stories. We put forward a mask, submitting to the demands of culture, afraid to show what's underneath the mask.

“You’ve worn a mask for so long you’ve forgotten what’s beneath it,” is a quote I saw once, and it really hit me. Because I don’t think that’s exactly true. I don’t think you ever forget what’s beneath your mask, and that’s what makes it all the worse. You’re always being reminded of who you could be if you would just be yourself. . . but you can’t.

Because you’re controlled by fear.

I mean, think about it. Most of the time, we can’t do something without thinking about what other people are going to think of us. A lot of times, the way we act is just a facade of who we think everyone else wants to see.

This is completely, and totally, un-Biblical, and a very big problem in our culture.

Who cares what anyone else thinks?

What God's Word Says

The Bible is very clear on its position on this. Joshua 1:9, “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”

Isaiah 8:11-12, “For the Lord. . . warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying. . . ‘do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.’”

Isaiah 43:1, “He created you, people of Jacob; He formed you, people of Israel. He says, ‘Don’t be afraid, because I have saved you. I have called you by name, and you are mine.’”

2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has given us a Spirit not of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.”

Hebrews 13:6, “‘The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”

Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man lays a snare.”

And finally, maybe the clearest of all of them, Deuteronomy 3:22, “You shall not fear them.”

In all of these verses, and I could have shown a whole lot more, God is very clear on His position: there is literally no reason to fear, because God is the only One whose opinion matters. We should not be afraid of mere people when we have the very God of the universe by our side.

As long as we’re doing what pleases Him, as long as we’re focusing on glorifying His name, we should not care what anyone else thinks of us—we shouldn’t be afraid.

And we shouldn’t let that fear of man control us.

Christians should be the most genuine, the most heartfelt, the most kind and real people of all time, yet that’s often not the case. We’re often so focused on pleasing other Christians, or on looking like a perfect, model Christian, that we forget that none of that matters.

The only opinion that ever matters is God’s. And the only person we should try to conform our lives to and look more like is Jesus.

If we lived like that, we would never be ashamed. We would never be fake. We would never cover our true selves with a facade.

And we most importantly would never be afraid of other people’s opinions.

So Let's Live Like This

Imagine a world where Christians weren’t afraid of what the world thought of them. A world where Christians thrived in being different, and in being different, glorified God and lighted up the dark.

A world where we were genuine and real, not two-faced and fake.

A world where we weren’t controlled by fear.

It would be a more beautiful world, don’t you think?

So, let’s start today, in fighting against this fear. Let’s start today loving being different because our Savior was different, and not being ashamed of this.

We have been called to be aliens of this world. Christians are. . . weird. And we should embrace that because we don’t want to be like this world. We want to be like Jesus, who most definitely was not afraid of the opinions of this world.

He didn’t care what anyone else thought of Him, and neither should we.

He wasn’t controlled by fear, and we shouldn’t be either.