I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm stuck in some kind of bad dream, filled with anger and confusion, fear and intolerance. Clear thinking has been replaced by rigid, polarized, reactionary thinking. For that reason, I am finding new significance in one of the many promises found only in the Bible.
I like how the old KJV puts it: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).
God has given us many wonderful things, but fear is not one of them. Paul even refer to "a spirit of fear." Fear is at the root of so many of our dysfunctions: anger, insecurity, anxiety, depression, hostility, discord. We are afraid of so many things. We are afraid of losing control. We are afraid of rejection and separation. We are afraid of being disrespected and devalued. We are afraid of being left out and looked over.
It's possible to move beyond fear to a spirit of fear. We can find ourselves living in an atmosphere of fear, a culture of fear, a place where people are trying to manipulate and control us by playing on our fear. May I suggest that the result is toxic and leads only to death.
A study was recently released showing that for the first time in our history, the death rate among middle-aged White people is going up. In fact, the death rate among middle-aged Whites is now higher than any other people group in our society. And this is only an American phenomenon, not being experienced anywhere else in the world. Economists refer to it as "Midlife Deaths of Despair." The death rate is going up because of drug and alcohol abuse and suicide. Death is the final result of a spirit of fear.
Paul uses a special word for "fear" in this verse (Greek deilia), meaning a state or mindset of fearfulness or timidity. It is a state of continual anxiety, of low-grade depression, a negative if not catastrophic view of life, resulting in a hesitation to take any positive steps into the future.
A spirit of fear is best offset by the gifts God has given us:
1. Power (Greek dunamis), God's own dynamic energy, God's ability given to accomplish God's will. A prominent element in fear is a feeling of powerlessness, but for us humans, powerlessness is a feeling of being out of control. The fallacy is that we are not and cannot be in control. God's power is released when we have given up control. God's supernatural ability and our supernatural potential can only be blocked when we try to gain or maintain control. We need God's power.
2. Love (Greek agape). God's love is self-giving while our natural, human love is self-serving. Our attempts to love tend to be about ego-gratification and self-indulgence. God's pure, holy love always pours out to the other in service, empowering those it touches. Fear causes us to hesitate to love unless we know that our love is going to be returned in a way that makes us feel important. Self-serving love is a dead-end road. We need God's love.
3. A Sound Mind (Greek sophronismos). It is a "saved" mind, a healthy mind, a focused, liberated mind. It is a disciplined, purposeful mind. It is not a "double mind" filled with doubt and confusion. It is not a chaotic, uncontrolled mind. It is the very opposite of a fearful mind. It is not just a matter of intelligence or education. It is not just a matter of being well informed or being guided by "worldly wisdom." We need the mind of Christ.
This beautiful and timely promise in Paul is tell us that God has come to deliver us from "a spirit of fear" and to replace it with God's own spirit of power/love/discipline. Only in this way can we see our way forward into God's preferred future for our lives.
I think there is a connection between verse 7 and verse 6: "I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you...." God has given us God's spirit of power/love/discipline so we can be effective stewards of the gifts (Greek charisma) God has placed in our lives. They are the means by which we will bear the good and abundant fruit God has intended for us. But I also believe that the best way to be released from a spirit of fear and to move in a spirit of power/love/discipline is to "stir up" those gifts, to exercise those gifts, to intentionally use the gifts God has given us in our lives and service of others. When we are functioning in ways that reflect God's gifts to us, we experience the reality of God's power, love and soundness of mind. When we are living for ourselves to serve ourselves, we find ourselves trapped in an unending cycle of fear.
It reminds me of another passage in Paul: "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace" (Romans 8:6). Life and peace. That's what the world needs. That's what we need. It's time to turn from a spirit of fear and stir up the gifts God has given to us.
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