Who struggles with the fear of man?

-The apparently strong

-The weak

-The rich and influential

-The poor and inconsequential

-The timid

-The bold

-The believer

-The unbeliever

One of Satan’s first lines of attack is to convince us that we are the only ones struggling with a particular sin or that our struggle is particularly unique.

One of the surest ways to continue struggling with the fear of man is to continue believing you’re the only one going through this struggle or to see your struggle as unique and to refuse to share that struggle with another person.

Why do we fear man?

1. Well, Past experience tells us that man can cause us harm and pain and difficulties;

2. We are proud and self-centered.

3. We have a needs based view of other people.

4. We have a wrong view of what we truly need and what we deserve.

What does Scripture say about the fear of man?

-It originated at the Fall. Genesis 3:6-7

-It is shortsighted. Luke 12:4-5

-It is a destructive trap. Proverbs 29:25

-It is the opposite of love. I John 4:18,

-It minimizes the nature of our position in Christ. Romans 8:35, 38-39,

-It can only be overcome through the power of the Gospel (Romans 8:31-34/ I John 4:7-12).

Examples of men and women who feared man more than God:

• Abraham

• Isaac

• Lot

• Jacob

• Moses

• Aaron

• Saul

• The Pharisees

• Peter (Luke 22:54-62) denies Christ; (Galatians 2:11-21) Paul confronts Peter

What evil fruit does the fear of man produce in our lives?

1. Discontent
2. Unhealthy dependency upon others
3. Cynicism
4. Bitterness

Fear of others begins to become sinful when it governs our lives, when we cross the line from enjoying the approval of others to believing that we need or deserve it. When we are so gripped by fear of being physically hurt that we are unwilling to live as the Lord has called us to live in this world, as strangers and pilgrims, recognizing that we will encounter physical pain. The Christian life is not one that needlessly pursues pain, suffering, rejection, exposure and abuse, but neither is it a religion that understands these things to be ultimate. If you are struggling to know whether you have a right or wrong fear of man, think back to the questions we asked at the beginning, I refer you back to Ed Welch’s book, "When People are Big and God is Small" - chapter 1.

Without being reductionistic, we fear man because we do not fear God or we do not fear God enough. Each time we give ourselves over to the fear of man we are choosing to love ourselves more and fear God less.