THE PASTORAL THEOLOGY OF THE FEAR OF GOD

Abstract

When man doesn’t know God lives dominated by sinful fears and anxieties. The Gospel reorients idolatrous fears into godly, creational fear of God – the Creator, Redeemer and Father. True knowledge of God, received through His self-revelation in the Bible by the Spirit, leads to a proper fear of God rooted in His character: divine glory, holiness, justice, goodness and compassion. Thus biblical fear of God produces awe, love, sanctification, perseverance and obedience – spiritual blessings essential for fulfilling Christian ministry. Eschatological fear of God replaces the previous sinful fears and enables Christian leaders to carry out their calling effectively.

Introduction
“Do not fear!” commands the Bible. “Fear…the Lord” commands the same Bible. Before this apparent contrast, we are left with two options. Option one: the Bible contains contradiction and therefore errors. However, if we uphold the Reformed doctrine of biblical inerrancy, this option must be discarded. Option two: the Bible is clearly speaking of (at least) two different kinds of fear. In this light, we rediscover the ancient and often forgotten doctrine of the fear of God.
Once upon a time Christians were known as “God-fearing men”. Fear of the Almighty and faith in Jesus Christ were synonyms. In Scripture, fearing God is a spiritual mark of the true believer, as exemplified by Job (Job 1:8). Commenting on Job’s fear of God, Hartley writes: “One who fears God loves Him devoutly. Therefore he approaches God reverently, filled with awe and deeply conscious of God’s contagious love. In daily life he expresses his fear by striving to please God in faithful obedience inspired by love. There is a close tie between fear of God and love for God”. Sadly, the fear of God is today a neglected and even forgotten doctrine. Yet it’s so vital in Christian life that professor Murray asserts: “The fear of God is the soul of godliness”. Machen said: “My people’s greatest need is my personal holiness”. Since the minister’s holiness is of utmost importance – and since holiness flows from the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1) – then fear of the Lord must be seen as the most essential characteristic of pastoral ministry.
There are basically two types of fear. First, the creational, holy, legitimate, pre-fall fear of God as Father. Second, the sinful, post fall fear of God as furious Judge. The former is good and necessary. The latter is evil, devilish and must be cured by the Gospel. The Puritans were precise in distinguishing between these two types of fears: filial vs servile fear (Swinnock); holy vs slavish fear (Gurnall); reverential vs bondage fear (Charnock); commended vs forbidden fear (Bunyan). Fear isn’t always a negative reality; it could be a bad thing or a good thing, depending on its object and on the relational conditions in which man stands before God. When man fears creation instead of the Creator, “fear” is negative. But when fear is directed toward God, it may be sinful fear – if man stands unjustified before God the Punisher – or godly fear, if man is a justified sinner and adopted son of God in Christ. Thus, although commonly understood as negative emotion, fear is actually a good and necessary reality when lived by the Spirit in accordance with the biblical vision – namely, the fear of God in His full revelation as Creator, Redeemer and Father. In fact, Scriptures uses the Hebrew verb “to fear” [יָרֵא] with God as its object in roughly 80% of occurrences. Linguistically, as Van Pelt explains, the concept of fear includes elements of terror, respect and worship – dimensions not mutually exclusive. Fear occurs when “a finite person is confronted with some aspect of the presence of the Almighty God”. In the OT “Yahweh is almost exclusively the object of fear when associated with worship”. To fear God in worship is the ultimate goal of life and therefore of pastoral ministry. The Bible, especially the Pentateuch, dedicates a significant amount of biblical data to establish right worship (Deuteronomy 10:12-13), and therefore right fear of God. Consequently, “fear” and “love” don’t constitute a dichotomy, but a paradoxical unity: two sides of the same coin. The Bible presents the overarching pattern: Creation – Fall (de-creation) – Salvation (inaugurated New Creation) – Consummation. Gospel redemption, as the inauguration of the New Creation, restores in human hearts the pre-fall fear of God, in accordance with the New Covenant.
In the following sections, we will examine these two types of fear. In section one, sinful fear is analysed. It is constituted mainly by fear of God as Judge who condemns sinners in His wrath, and by anxiety produced by the attempt to produce self-salvation by good works. We will explore how such sinful fear negatively shapes the life of Christian ministers. In section two, we will study the restored holy fear of God, to understand how the Gospel reorients sinful fears into creational fear of God which enables New Covenant ministers to fulfil their calling.

How are Christian leaders shaped by their sinful fears?

Pastors aren’t superheroes. They are sons of the living God in Christ, yet also mortal men, frail and still sinful creatures. Simul iustus et peccator. Their progressive holiness is an “already, but not yet” reality, a “work in progress” blessing of the Holy Spirit. Pastors “have not been completely delivered from pride, greed, lust, anger, and bitterness”. The enduring presence of sin in the minister’s being is the cause of sinful fears that affect their life and ministry. When Adam rebelled in Eden, was rightly overtaken by a dreadful terror of his Creator – the same fear previously experienced by Satan. Adam, from a godly fear of God as Father, degenerated to horror and anguish of a guilty man before his inescapable Judge. Pastors likewise live with this constant lingering of Adamic shame, frailty, enmity, conflict and loss. We all live the tension of the cursed world of Ecclesiastes. Flavel defines “sinful fear” as the failure of “trusting God’s promises in the face of danger”. Adam’s fall continues to affect also Christian ministers, who tend to trust in idols rather than in God’s Word when facing trials in ministry. When men reject God they cease to live according to the Imago Dei. When man doesn’t fear God and doesn’t trust Him, inevitably he has to trust in himself. He becomes his own impotent savior and weak lord. He is smashed under the weight of the responsibility of providing solutions for his own existence. This is a role that only the Triune God can fulfill, not any man. Idolatry brings anxieties instead of solving it. Without the comforting fear of God, men remain alone like weeping orphans without father, the familiar shield who protects and takes care of them. Men constantly are afraid and frequently commit suicide because they fear what they cannot control, both good things (like a university degree that they are trying to achieve: it’s easier to remain in the poorer state than labour to improve, because it is fearful to exit the “comfort zone”!) and bad things (pandemic, diseases, natural catastrophes, death, etc.). Far away from God, safety, health, wealth and comfort become idols to pursue and worship at all cost. The lack of the comforting fear of God as Father and being afraid of God as Judge, push away men from God and lead them to produce their own idols that they can control, even manipulate. Atheists think to be delivered from the religious fear of God, as they wrongly misunderstand it negatively. Knowing God and the true Gospel is essential to truly know ourselves, and therefore to be able to reorient our own fears. Only creational fear of God can lead men to enjoy true “happiness and excellence”. Facing trials in the fear of the Lord has very positive “sanctifying effects”. However, modern atheism and so-called “science” promise to liberate humanity from religious cages and to grant them true freedom, without fears. Quite the opposite. Without God the Shield, he feels alone, forsaken, broken and governed by fears. The contemporary pharmaceuticalised society pathologises all fear, losing the distinction between good and sinful fear. Today, all fears are negative and they must be eliminated. But there are certain kinds of fears that are useful, even indispensable to survive: when we are afraid of something dangerous for our life, we avoid what we fear! But contemporary society is obsessed with health and wealth. There is a pill for absolutely every anxiety and unease. Fear has become a taboo to exorcise with medical solutions. Enlightenment, rationalism, Darwinian evolution, modern philosophy deceived men who instead of being freed from fears, invented the atomic bomb, global terrorism, cosmic pandemic, faced War World I and II, and established racism, conflict, social division as never before. Men want to evade this ruined world reaching the outworld space, in order to escape fears. For those who don’t trust Christ in the fear of the Lord, the increasing eschatological signs of the end of time are a source of increasing fears: war and rumors of war, earthquake, famine, etc. So it’s urgent to rediscover the beauty and the healing power of the godly fear of God. In a way, the atheistic criticism is right: religions of works don’t take away the weight of sinful fear, but increase them, because “you have to work out your own way in order to hope to be saved, you have to perform as much deeds as you can” (there isn’t assurance of salvation!). This was the dread in which Martin Luther lived as Roman Catholic monk, before being enlightened by the delivering grace of the true Gospel of Christ. The same sinful fears were experienced by Bunyan before his true conversion; Beeke states about him: “Despite external praise, Bunyan knew his hypocrisy and was overwhelmed with fear, particularly of death”. When just external legalistic changes at the level of behaviour are required instead of considering the heart, its desires and affection, then sinful fears increase instead of being washed away. “A good conscience raises up the fear of God, but releases from the fear of men with their criticisms and complaints against the supposed rigors of obedience. A good conscience does not promote legalism. Rather, it finds the greatest liberty: liberty to obey God despite great opposition”. Legalism is still a great threat to pastors who many times rely upon their own performance instead of the power of the Spirit. Sinful fears arise when a ministry is marked by “Sola Performance” instead of “Sola Fide” and “Sola Gratia”. True christian conversion is performed at the deepest level of the heart. This was the concern of Jonathan Edwards. He particularly valued the affection expressed by the fear of God: “The Scriptures place much of religion in godly fear”. God must change affections from idols to Himself, He turns sinful fears into holy creational fear. The two different kind of fears are displayed in Exodus 20:20 shoulder to shoulder. The Bible with the same term “fear” could refer to both. Sinful fears raised from not knowing God as Father, but only as Tyrant. The root of being afraid of God is the misunderstanding about His lovable and desirable nature. It’s the misunderstanding Satan advertised in Eden, when he caricatured God by exaggeration, saying: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’; what a bad tyrant God is! He wants to oppress you!” Sinful fears drive away sinners from the severe Dictator whom they hate. Instead godly creational fear of God is a filial reverence, that flows out from love for God whom Christians experientially know through the Holy Spirit and Scripture. Creational fear of God drives Christian to the open arms of the Father, the personal, relational and covenantal Lord Yahweh, in love and evangelical obedience . Gurnall wrote: “​​We fear men so much, because we fear God so little. One fear cures another. When man’s terror scares you, turn your thoughts to the wrath of God”. Flavel states: “exalt the fear of God in your hearts, and let it gain the ascendant over all your other fears…the fear of God will swallow up the fear of man. A reverential awe and dread of God will extinguish the creature’s slavish fear, as the rain puts out the fire”; the best cure for sinful fear is the fear of God. Christian pastors must seek to cast out sinful fears by immersing themselves in God’s love and godly fear. They don’t have to be deceived by the misunderstanding that Jesus’ love cast away fear, and therefore we can now act before God as we want. No! “Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18) means that Jesus’ love casts out sinful fears but simultaneously amplifies worshiping creational fear of God, expressed in Revelation 15:3-4:

“Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you”

This mosaic hymn is the paradigm of the redemption song of all God’s people, from beginning to end, from Exodus to Revelation, as adoration in response to messianic deliverance. Filial fear of God was and always will be the distinguishing mark of God’s redeemed people. It eclipses the other sinful fears, because it eclipses human self and pride, like the light of the little stars disappears beside the splendour glory of the Sun. Fear of God puts in right perspective all other fears, that become tiny and insignificant. Joseph Hall perfectly summarizes: “​​The wicked is a very coward, and is afraid of everything; of God, because He is his enemy; of Satan, because he is his tormentor; of God’s creatures, because they, joining with their Maker, fight against him; of himself, because he bears about with him his own accuser and executioner. The godly man contrarily is afraid of nothing; not of God, because he knows Him his best friend, and will not hurt him; not of Satan, because he cannot hurt him; not of afflictions, because he knows they come from a loving God, and end in his good; not of the creatures, since “the very stones in the field are in league with Him;” not of himself, since his conscience is at peace”.

How can Christian leaders reorient their sinful fears?

The Gospel is the only solution. Men’s primary relationship with God impacts upon men’s secondary relationships with other men and with the world. Vertical dimension always influences the horizontal ones. When in Genesis 3 the relationship with God broke, consequently Adam’s relationship with Eve and with creation were affected by sin, death and fears. Conversely, by the power of the Gospel, when the relationship with God is restored, all realities are renewed and sinful fears are now subjected and minimized by the restored creational fear of God. God’s forgiveness in Christ causes fear of God to flourish in Christian leaders’ hearts (Psalm 130:4). Reeves writes: “It is divine forgiveness and our justification by faith alone that turns our natural dread of God as sinners into the fearful, trembling adoration of beloved children”. Union with Christ subverts edenic curse in blessing, sinful fear in creational fear. His redemption is a reversal. If sinful fear is defined as failure in trusting God’s promises in the face of danger, then fear of God is the opposite: to trust God’s promises in the face of trials. Christ, the last Adam, progressively takes aways Christians’ sinful fear of God’s judgement from which they are spared (John 5:24) and gives assurance before Him (1John 2:28, 4:18). Because of the “already, but not yet” holiness of Christians, the simultaneous presence of both godly fear and sinful fear is a reality to them. In the process of progressive sanctification, sinful fears must decrease and creational fear should increase.
In order to be able to reorient their sinful fears, Christian leaders must draw from the well of God’s wisdom, power and knowledge. Fear of God must be exercised. How? Learning from God’s Word (Deuteronomy 4:10). Fear of God comes from a pedagogical activity, experienced through a daily battle in the heart. The very Word of God is called the “fear of God” (Psalm 19) therefore to grow in God’s Word is to grow in God’s fear. The Christian minister, like the ancient King of Israel, must keep learning to fear God by reading the Torah all the days of his life (Deuteronomy 17:19). Especially meditating on and delighting in the New Covenant from which the holy fear of God is produced. As a sinful person, a Christian leader cannot trust on his own strength to dominate sinful fears. He must lean wholly on the power of the Gospel. Salomon twice wrote:

(Proverbs 1:7)
“The fear of the LORD [יִרְאַת יְהוָה – LXX φόβος θεοῦ]
is the beginning of knowledge [דָּעַת – LXX σοφίας]”
(Proverbs 9:10)
“The fear of the LORD [יִרְאַת יְהוָה – LXX φόβος κυρίου]
is the beginning of wisdom [חָכְמָה – LXX σοφίας]”

Wisdom is the ability to employ knowledge in order to reach the right goal: the glory of God and the joy of God’s people. “People who fear God can use their knowledge both to glorify God and enjoy Him”. Therefore in order to receive the power to overcome sinful fears, Christian leaders must constantly stand before God, contemplating His glory. Pastors must constantly feed their own fear of God by reading and teaching the Bible. To fear God rightly, leaders should trust in the Father’s providence. They must constantly remember their true new identity in Christ in order to fight against pride and sinful fears: they are sinners saved not by works, but by grace; they stand not by their own efforts, not even their ministry, but because of Christ’s merit and strength. They must not seek the approval of men that causes fears and anxiety of performance, but they have to continue rooted in God’s acceptance because of Christ’s justification. Because to fear God is the ultimate good fear, then all other minor fears are declassed to a secondary level of importance. Because God is far more glorious and beautiful than anything else, He deserves a far greater love and higher fear. When people realise the holy wrath of God, the consuming fire, and His sovereign authority over everything, then due respect, reverence and submission are exercised from a renewed heart, as inner genuine attitudes, and not only as external legalistic religious artificial behaviours. Substitution is crucial in Christianity. Substitutionary atonement describes Christ’s redemption. Substitutionary fear of God substitutes sinful fears. Fears are controlled by what we love. If we love God we fear Him. If we love idols we exercise sinful fears. Therefore sinful fears must be reoriented by the Holy Spirit putting in our heart a greater love and fear for God. Christ’s beauty substitutes the world’s beauty and so Jesus wins our love. Equally, God’s might substitutes the world’s power and so God wins our fear and worship. Jesus Himself said:

(Matthew 10:28)
“And do not fear [φοβεῖσθε] those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear [φοβεῖσθε] him who can destroy both soul and body in hell”

Very different from the rich man who put his trust and found his safety in his idolatrous possessions (Luke 12:20). Murray said: “The fear of God which is the soul of godliness does not consist, however, in the dread which is produced by the apprehension of God’s wrath…Punishment has of itself no regenerating or converting power. The fear of God in which godliness consists is the fear which constrains adoration and love. It is the fear which consists in awe, reverence, honour, and worship, and all of these on the highest level of exercise. It is the reflex in our consciousness of the transcendent majesty and holiness of God”. Sinful fear of God’s punishment doesn’t make any lasting impression upon the sinners’ souls, because it is merely concerned with self-preservation, without any concern with God’s glory. On the contrary, sinners want to remove what they perceive as dangerous for their lives and therefore they want to remove God as Judge. Only Gospel fear of God can transform an enemy of God into a son of the heavenly Father.
Godly fear of God is a creational pre-fall feature: created beings stand before their all powerful Creator and adore Him. It possesses the adoring seraphims before the throne (Isaiah 6). They haven’t sin, but they fear God, overwhelmed by physical awe, shaking love and saturating worship. Watson affirmed: “True saints are seraphims, burning in holy love to God”. That way Christian leaders should fear God now as eschatological anticipation, because all Christians will indeed worship God in fear and trembling, together with the seraphims, in New Heaven and New Earth. Faithful angels model the present church’s worship. The term “fear” has nothing to do with the negative understanding of contemporary vocabulary, but it’s an index of the intensity and higher degree of affection towards God. The bride of Christ who trembles of joy before her bridegroom God. “The controlling sense of the majesty and holiness of God and the profound reverence which this apprehension elicits constitute the essence of the fear of God”. A lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron! Watson said: “a good Christian is like the sun…has his affection heated with love to God”. Fear of God must express the maximum degree of love, gratitude, worship and affection to God the Father and King, for all His goodness (Jeremiah 33:9; Hosea 3:5). The Magnificat of Mary, who has just received the most gracious good news of all (the conception of Jesus through her womb), remembers this beautiful truth:

(Luke 1:50)
“his mercy is for those who fear him, from generation to generation”

Proverbs 15:16-17 and Psalm 145:19-20 show that “fear of the Lord” and “love for God” are parallel theological concepts, almost interchangeable. Godly Fear and love come together, not in opposition and draw us towards the Father, because all God’s power is employed for our good, in Christ. Godly fear arises from “an appreciation of God…from faith in the mercy and goodness of God”.
This causes pastors to rejoice and persevere even in the midst of persecution. Job, a great OT type of Chtist, could face such despair until the end, because he was a “God-fearing” man. Christ Himself, the last Adam, persevered until the completion of His divine mission because of His fear of the Lord, in fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy:

(Isaiah 11:2-3)
“And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
…the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD
[רוּחַ דַּעַת וְיִרְאַת יְהוָֽה]
And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD
[בְּיִרְאַת יְהוָה]”

“the fear of God is characteristic of some in the OT whom God has endowed with the Spirit in order that they might faithfully rule the people of God. This is particularly true of David (2 Sam 23:3) and of the Messiah who was to come (Isa 11:2)”. In Christ’s earthly life and mission, the fear of God is a pneumatological result. Jesus’ pleasure and delight was (and is) in fearing God. Note that impeccability marked Jesus. But even with no sin, like the seraphins, Jesus feared God. Why? Murray explains: “Even when there is no sin, and therefore no existent wrath, we cannot eliminate the fear of incurring God’s displeasure as one motive deterrent the commission of sin”. To fear God, Jesus teaches us, it isn’t something bad to avoid, but it’s something good to pursue. It’s a gift from the Spirit of God. By extension, what was true for Christ on Earth, it is true also for the Christians, united to Christ by faith, who participate in Christ’s mission. The missionary militant church of Acts could overcome persecution because of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in them, who coupled fear of God with comfort in their heart (Act 9:31). Again, fear of God is a spiritual blessing that acts in the believers’ heart and moves them to fight sinful fears for a greater purpose: God’s glory through the fulfilment of Christ’s Great Commission. This supernatural formula, fear of God plus comfort from God, allowed them to win sinful fears and accomplish their calling as Christian leaders, paying the cost demanded by Christian ministry:

(Act 5:29)
“We must obey God rather than men”

Fear of God compelled Abraham to obey God’s voice out of love, and to be available to sacrifice even his only son Isaac: “now I know that you fear God”. Abraham’s outward obedience was the external demonstration of his inner fear of God, as Luther discovered centuries later. Abraham’s fear of God really became the distinctive mark of his descendants, those who are children of Abraham, sons of God through faith in the Messiah. Isaac’s God was known as the “Fear of Isaac”. The Abrahamic covenant is a typological anticipation of the better New Covenant in Christ:
(Jeremiah 32:40)
“I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me [יִרְאָתִי – LXX φόβον μου] in their hearts, that they may not turn from me”

Fear of God is part of God’s redemption of His eschatological people. This is how God’s Spirit produces “perseverance of the saints”. Murray shockingly states: “the Spirit of Christ is the spirit of the fear of the Lord”. Bunyan states: “No faith, no fear of God; devil’s faith, devil’s fear; saint’s faith, saint’s fear…This godly fear also flows from a sense of the love and kindness of God to the soul…Indeed nothing can lay a stronger obligation upon the heart to fear God, than sense of, or hope in mercy (Jer 33:8, 9). This begetteth true tenderness of heart, true godly softness of spirit; this truly endeareth the affections to God; and in this true tenderness, softness, and endearedness of affection to God, lieth the very essence of this fear of the Lord”. Flavel affirmed: “if we look to God in the day of trouble, fear Him as the Lord of hosts (the One who governs all creatures and commands all the armies of heaven and earth), and rely upon His care and love as a child depends upon his father’s protection, then we will know rest and peace”. Because of Christ, Christians may share with Him His filial fear of God. Therefore pastors should call sinners to be reconciled to God the Father as adopted sons who share Jesus’ filial fear. Infact, filial fear is about not enjoying the Father’s warmth communion, that by no means cannot be lost (union with Christ is indissoluble!), differently from the sinful fear that characterises the separated sinner from the Holy Creator. The young sinner Luther screamed of terror before the thunder of God the tyrant in the sky, furious against his sins; but on the contrary, the justified Spurgeon was delighted in the rumbling thunders because he could heard his Father’s mighty voice.
Joyful fear in Christian leaders is exemplified in the God-fearer king David. When David wanted to put God’s presence in the center of his city, Zion, he brought back the ark of the covenant, symbol of God’s throne, in fear and joy (2 Samuel 6), dancing and trembling at the same time. Fear, because Uzzah has just been stricken down by God’s holy fury (verse 7). Joy, because of God’s goodness and blessing towards Obed-Edom’s house (verses 11-12). Fear and joy before God always goes together, exploding in vibrant worship and shaking praise. Reeves remembers that love for God’s goodness and fear for His holiness is not enough! Christian leaders should also love God’s holiness and fear Him because of His goodness. This is how Christian leaders must faithfully fulfil their vocation:

(Ecclesiastes 12:13)
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God [הָאֱלֹהִים יְרָא – LXX Τὸν θεὸν φοβοῦ] and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man”

Christian ethics and leadership are built upon the fear of God. Pastors should look after their own heart inclination, pursuing holiness, desiring purity to stay close to the Father, being conformed to Christ’s image, exhorting the sheep to do the same, by example and by teaching: “work out your own salvation with fear [μετὰ φόβου] and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). Leaders who fear God must hate sin and love God from their inner being, not just renouncing sin with nostalgia like Lot’s wife exiting Sodoma. Creational fear of God “inclines the soul to love what God loves and hate what God hates”. This way, pastors imitate Christ, the Good Shepherd, in His perseverant pursuing of the Father’s will. Jesus on trials, fulfilled the Suffering Servant prophecy, by remaining in silence before Pilate because He wanted to satisfy God. Jesus feared the Lord and lived and died according to this creational fear. Instead Pilate was controlled by the anxiety of satisfying people. During Jesus’ trial, he feared an insurrection by the violent jews. He wanted to be praised by men, while Jesus didn’t seek glory from men. The Roman governor was controlled by the fear of people, and not by the fear of God, and therefore he took wrong decisions and made sinful compromises (Mark 15:1-20). Fear of God made Jesus humbly strong, but fear of men made Pilate a coward. Machen wrote: “the ‘Fear him’ is balanced by ‘Fear not’. The fear of God is here made a way of overcoming the fear of man…with the fear of God before their eyes, the heroes of the faith have boldly stood before kings and governors and said, ‘Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise, God help me, Amen’”. A Christian leader must be controlled by the fear of God above the fear of people and anxiety of performance, in order to avoid wrong decisions but take godly decisions according to God’s will. Men’s praise and approval in order to satisfy your own personal ambition is a big temptation. Pastoral ministry can turn into an idol. But to fear God means to cherish Christ above all, to seek only the glory from God and the approval from the Father, above everything else. For a Christian leader a temptation could be to love more people’s applause than Jesus, be satisfied more with the ministry than the love of the Father, to fear the congregation more than God. Flavel wrote: “the carnal person fears man, not God. The strong Christian fears God, not man. The weak Christian fears man too much and God too little”.
To reach true success in ministry we need spiritual wisdom, and it doesn’t come from high IQ and degrees, but only from the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom. So, when a pastor is concerned about his inability and he suffers in the midst of greatly talented preachers and leaders, he finds comfort in fearing the God who blesses those who fear Him, both great and small. Fear of God balances the defects of the pastor’s character: those who tend to be strong but not gentle, become self-controlled and tender; those who are soft but timid, shy and fearful, become determined and bold. This is how the Spirit of the fear of God forges Christian ministers to reorient ungodly fears in holy fear, and grant them an effective ministry, even in the midst of great tribulations. Spurgeon said: “Look at the preacher who has no burdens. His sermon is in his pocket”.

(Isaiah 66:2)
“But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word”

God-fearing pastors are humble. So also their congregations are united in humility. Common fear of God produces local unity and cast away division. Godly fear makes Christians lovers of God and haters of self . It solves the pastor’s fear of seeing his congregation being torn apart because of pride.
Fear of God also produces self containment. Insatisfaction sometimes is good because it compels leaders to seek improvement and better results in God’s work. But pastors also need to be content for what God has already granted, to avoid bitterness and envy. Pastors always fear not having enough resources: time, money, people, etc. Fear of God produces dependance on God and humbly trusting in His providence. So leaders may enjoy and share “the rare jewel of christian contentment”, as recites the Heidelberg Catechism’s question 1.
Fear of God enlarges the heart of Christian leaders who instead of being selfish and afraid of trials, become boldly generous and willingful to take risks in order to help others, with self-sacrificial love, exactly like Jesus did, and also the prophet Obadiah, who helped the persecuted prophets of Yahweh in the face of Jezebel’s persecution (1 King 18).

Conclusion

Bunyan’s awe provides the perfect conclusion, a picture of the Christian leader who fears God:
“Oh! That a great God should be a good God. A good God to an unworthy, to an undeserving, and to a people that continually do what they can to provoke the eyes of his glory; this should make us tremble”.

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Tematiche: Teologia pastorale