Jesus told a parable in Matthew 25:14-30 about a man travelling into a far country and delivering money into the hands of his servants to put to use while he was away.  One servant was given five talents and with them he gained five talents more by the time his lord returned.  Another man was given two talents, and, accordingly, had gained two more when the master had returned.  But the one-talent man was afraid and hid his talent in the earth (Matthew 25:18).  When the Lord returned, the man made the excuse, “Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine” (Matthew 25:24-25).  But fear of taking a risk was not acceptable to the master.  In Matthew 25:26-30 he replied:

Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Some perceive the church as an entity which spreads fear.  No doubt there are fearful things awaiting the disobedient and we should fear what God can do to us (Matthew 10:28).  But fear can also have a crippling effect.  Some of those in the lake of fire will be the fearful (Revelation 21:8). Fear is a motivation (2 Corinthians 5:11). But fear cannot be my only motivating factor in the Christian life. Remember it is the love of Christ that compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14), and perfect love casts out fear so that we have boldness in the day of judgment (1 John 4:17-18).

I can be so afraid of the world that I never try to engage the world to spread the message of Jesus Christ.  We should not love the world’s ideals, which are antagonistic to God (1 John 2:15).  However, God loves the world in the sense that He loves every individual enough to give His Son for them (John 3:16).  There are harmful pollutants of the soul out there in the world that I want to avoid (2 Peter 2:20).  However, let’s not get the idea that the church should be an over-protective institution that demonizes the people of the world to the point that the members of the Lord’s church are too afraid to interact with the people of the world.  Let’s not be afraid to turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6).  Let’s not be afraid to go out into all the world with the message of Jesus (Mark 16:15-16).  Let’s not be afraid to sit with sinners, not to engage in their sin, but as our Savior did, to provide them spiritual healing (Mark 2:16-17).  “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

-Mark Day