Is Fear Keeping You From Being Biblical?

Someone I know recounted the following experience:

"I grew up in a very conservative church. I remember one Christmas as a young teen; we were all excited for the Christmas service. Because we were at a small church, everyone got to take part in some way, whether by singing or playing an instrument. There was a family of regular attendees who didn’t have the same conservative background as most of the church, but were very excited to take part. The oldest son played the saxophone beautifully and had been practicing his song for the service. The Wednesday before the Christmas service, he showed up with a pierced ear. It was a big disturbance. A leader let him know that he could not play in front of the church, as the earring went against our church rules for those on the platform. Sadly, and as you can imagine, they left our church and did not return. I remember our family feeling so heartbroken over the whole thing and feeling so frustrated about the extra standard by which he was judged. Looking back, I wonder, was that decision made based on fear of perception?"

This makes me think of Galatians 2:11-14.

Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?

Let’s break it down. What did Peter do wrong, and why was Paul so upset about it?

First, let’s understand that Paul founded the church in Galatia during his first missionary journey. It was mostly made up of Gentiles; however, there were some Jews who began to get involved, specifically some messengers from James who showed up. Up to this point, Peter ate with the Gentiles in the church, but out of fear of what his fellow Jews would think, he stopped. Barnabas was also influenced to separate himself from the Gentiles as well.

John Wesley explains why Paul confronted Peter. He noted that Peter was the “chief of all the Gentile churches.” Paul publicly confronted him for his fear of man (Galatians 2:12), for dissimulation or pretense (Galatians 2:13), and for not walking uprightly (Galatians 2:14).

How do we know for sure that Peter knew this was not the way of Jesus and was acting out of fear and a lack of empathy?

Back in Acts 10, before he was at Galatia, Peter had a vision while praying. In the vision God showed him many animals that were considered unclean, according to Jewish law, and a voice told him three times to kill and eat. In the vision, Peter was very resistant to this idea because he strictly adhered to Jewish law.

While he didn’t understand at the time, we know he did later when he told Cornelius, a Gentile whom God told to visit Peter in Acts 10:28, "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean."

Skipping down to Acts 10:34 further reiterates Peter’s understanding of how God saw the Gentiles when he said, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right."

Not only was Peter heavily influenced by the Jewish messengers, but he was also living against what he knew to be true, out of fear.

Are We Being Driven By Fear?

Do we ever live contrary to what we know to be true according to the Bible, based on fear of what others will think of us? Matthew Henry, a minister and theologian in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, noted that this was an example of "the weakness and inconsistency of the best of men, when left to themselves, and how apt they are to falter in their duty to God, out of an undue regard to the pleasing of men."

This passage is clearly a battle between Jewish law and justification through faith in Jesus, and we can learn so much from it. There are many things that try to get our attention away from the truth of the Gospel and how God sees people: media influencers, politics, racism, Biblical interpretations, cultural clashes, generational differences, and whether Christians should be following Jewish practices or not.

We live in a world with strong “influencers” and quite a bit of media peer pressure. Without even realizing it, we can be swept away by some opinion or another, judging other Christians based on something that has gone “viral.” It can feel good to have a new soapbox to stand on.

It's Not About the Rules

Unfortunately, we can follow every commandment in the Bible and still miss the point. We can follow self-imposed rules for ourselves to go above and beyond the letter of the law and overlook that in the Kingdom of Heaven, there is no Jew or Gentile, and no favoritism. To have faith in Jesus is to live out the good news of the Gospel boldly, fearlessly, and in love, even if it isn’t popular.

Let me invite you to take some time to consider if you are somehow being influenced to treat others contrary to the Gospel out of fear of how people will perceive you. Take some time to pray and self-reflect, and allow God to continue renewing your mind according to the word of God.