Now, we conclude our look at how God equips us to live a courageous life in Christ in a fearful world. Remember, we are not unarmed in the fight against our fears and the related attacks of the enemy. “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control’ (2 Tim 1:6-7, ESV)” Last time we examined fear conquering love; now, we look at the importance of self-control in the context of fear. This is vitally important because fear is a component of almost every negative human experience and a primary method of attack by the enemy.
As we discussed previously, there is a wide range of variation in the human responses to fear. (See Fear Not!-Part 1). The Four Fear Responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn By Amy Marschall, PsyD ). For many people, especially men, the default response is fight (fear based anger expressed in aggression). Therefore, it’s not surprising that the Bible places limits on aggressions like revenge. These limitations promote stable communities while addressing vital spiritual issues like self-control.
In the ancient Hebrew Scriptures, God placed limits on retaliation while codifying self-control: “If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. (Leviticus 24:19-20, ESV). The passage places limits on retaliation which was generally pursued by the kinship redeemer, a male family enforcer of justice (https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/importance-and-meaning-of-a-kinsman-redeemer.html). Limiting the human kinship redeemers is part of the process of Yahweh becoming the kinship redeemer for Israel, setting a pattern further developed by the Messiah.
In the Gospels, Jesus expands this notion. We are called to exercise self-control as a spiritual discipline. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also (Matthew 5:38-39). Notice that Jesus doesn’t want us to be vulnerable to sin while facing evil. As a result, Jesus becomes the kinship redeemer for all who follow him. He becomes an insulator between us and the temptation to seek vengeance (sinning in fear based anger). Ironically, our desire to seek justice can cause us to act unjustly. No doubt this is at least in part a diabolical scheme of the enemy.
There are many everyday illustrations of this evil scheme. Some examples are relatively benign. In football, it’s often the second punch that draws the flag. Many a dirty player has specialized in goading the opposition to retaliate to hidden cheap shots. When I was a police officer, we were warned against this phenomenon. Sometimes, the stakes are much higher. A training officer told us not to lie or falsify evidence in our frustrations. We were to avoid the temptation of violating the law in the pursuit of violators because we were “afraid that they would get away with it.” This often takes a great deal of self-control. Notice that this is another case of secular wisdom directly stemming from Judeo-Christian sources.
In the face of fear, we are called to resist both our primal impulses toward violence and demonic temptations. Too often we get out of control because we cannot do this by ourselves. But, we don’t have to. Through Christ, God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.’ The gift of self-control leads us to let go and let God (1):
God You don’t need me
But somehow You want me
Oh how You love me
Somehow that frees me
To take my hands off of my life
And the way it should go
But somehow You want me
Oh how You love me
Somehow that frees me
To open my hands up
And give You control
I give You control
(Control by Seventh Avenue North)
The Barnabas Strategy is an initiative of the Holy Spirit free of institutional constraints. … Ron Bellomy
———————————
(1) a phrase from 12 step programs