Fear-fest

Halloween is just around the corner, which is a good thing.  My family loves Halloween.  We don't go all in like some folks (recreating Nightmare on Elm Street in their front yards) but we do like some age-appropriate decorations.  This year we picked up a foam, ready to assemble haunted house.  The task of putting this project together fell to my wife, as I am neither artsy or crafty (some day I will tell you about my misadventures with model airplanes).  When she finished, with some help from our two youngest kids, I was a bit concerned.  Everything seemed askew.  Again, since I don't art or craft, I opted to hold my tongue and assume that she knew what she was doing.  Which, of course she did, since the whole point of the haunted house was to look dilapidated and broken down.

For some reason our culture assumes that people get scared by things that look off kilter.  Perhaps, but truth be told I am not freaked out by things that look messy or not properly centered.  No, what sends chills up my spine, what really makes me want my mommy, is neatness.  Compulsive, unnatural neatness.  Nothing gives off the scent of the unholy like a perfectly organized desk.  Or a closet with everything lines up and arranged by color, pattern, and/or season.  Or books in perfect alphabetical order...even the children's books and the L.L. Bean catalogues.  In a public library it is alright, but in a private home, well, I need to find myself some garlic and a wooden stake.  If any of the above situations fits you, I just want you to know that I have nothing but love for you, but I still think you might need an exorcism.  And if I splash you with Holy Water, it is nothing personal, okay.  I just don't want to become part of the living dead and end up spending my days making my bed and deep cleaning the freezer.

Each off us have things that make us feel afraid.  That is part of the fun of Halloween, allowing ourselves to experience fear in a safe, controlled environment.  Fear works well for haunted houses, slasher flicks and trick-or-treating.  Fear does not, however, have a place in the Christian faith.  Unfortunately, some well-intentioned brothers and sisters in the faith don't understand this.  They rely on a steady diet of fear in order to convince people to accept Jesus.  Just yesterday I was driving on the interstate and on the east side of the road were two large billboard.  The first said "If you died today, where would you spend eternity?"  and the one a few feet after it read "Hell is real." 

Evangelism by fear is not new.  People have been doing it for centuries.  Sometimes they tell stories about the consequences awaiting sinners, or create elaborate paintings of the eternal suffering in Hades.  There are even movies that try to warn you about the chaos that will happen if the Rapture comes and you get left behind.  I know, I was forced to watch such a film when I was only 10.  I don't think I slept for a week.

There are a number of problems with using fear to encourage people to get right with God, but two really stick out to me.  First, anyone with a elementary understanding of psychology will know that fear is a bad motivator for behavior.  Sure, you get that initial bust of OMG, but it does not last.  And the damage done to people who live under a constant threat of fear is well documented.  Jesus preached Good News full of hope and promise and joy and love, not everlasting fear.

But the biggest reason that fear is a horrible tool for evangelism is that it encourages people to approach God for all the wrong reasons.  Take our lovely billboards.  What is the real point they are trying to convey?  If you want to avoid hell, accept Jesus.  Where is the focus?  On Jesus?  No.  The center of the universe is you.  Any actions you take will be based out of protecting yourself.  Evangelism by fear encourages people to be self-centered and self-absorbed.  It is all about you.  Yet, the Good News that Jesus preached and lived was about turning our attention to God and to others.  Our actions are not motivated by fear but gratitude and thanksgiving.  We come to God and offer our lives because we are full of joy for all that God has done for us.  This is what Jesus came to show us.  Every time Jesus reached out to someone it was to bring a positive change to their lives and then, in response, he encouraged them to follow him and serve others.  Faith in Jesus frees us from living out of fear.  Eternal life is a gift, not a sledgehammer to be used to bludgeon people into submission.

If you are new to the faith, let me encourage you to experience the love and peace that Jesus offers.  It is truly liberating!  Don't be afraid, for there is nothing to fear.  God's love for you is rooted in something deeper and more powerful than fear or death.  For that is the whole point of the resurrection, that with love Jesus was able to conquer death.  The first word from God was life, and the last word is life.  Not fear.