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While waiting for a train to take him from Chattanooga to Memphis on July 4, 1956, a trip of some 400 miles, Elvis sits at the lunch counter to have some breakfast. The woman standing had ordered a sandwich for which she was waiting, but was not able to sit at the counter.
A part of our human condition is fear. Fear can be a healthy thing. It can keep us out of dangerous situations and preserve life and limb. However, history has shown that fear can also get the best of us. Fears, when they are out of control, can lead us to say destructive things, to hurt others, or try to eliminate entire groups of people. Racial segregation comes quickly to mind. We’ve suffered from this fear lived out, not just in the South, but across the nation. We can fear that which is different from us when do not seek to understand it. Fear of other people has lead us to war throughout time. It led to mass persecution of Christians. These are only to name a few. Jesus faced the wrath of another’s fear. In the early morning hours of the day of His crucifixion, Jesus was the subject of a farce of a trial at the home of Caiaphas the High Priest. The religious leaders were afraid of what Jesus might be--the Messiah that did not come as they expected He should. Jesus was so much more. They feared His words that might even condemn their self-righteousness. They feared what His teachings might require of them. Their fears led them to condemn an innocent man to die a horrible death. What do we do with our fears? Do we face them with the love that Jesus taught and lived? About this love with which Jesus responded, the Bible says: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18. |
Thursday, March 24, 2011
What would fear drive you to do?
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Thursday, March 24, 2011
What would fear drive you to do?
| |
While waiting for a train to take him from Chattanooga to Memphis on July 4, 1956, a trip of some 400 miles, Elvis sits at the lunch counter to have some breakfast. The woman standing had ordered a sandwich for which she was waiting, but was not able to sit at the counter.
A part of our human condition is fear. Fear can be a healthy thing. It can keep us out of dangerous situations and preserve life and limb. However, history has shown that fear can also get the best of us. Fears, when they are out of control, can lead us to say destructive things, to hurt others, or try to eliminate entire groups of people. Racial segregation comes quickly to mind. We’ve suffered from this fear lived out, not just in the South, but across the nation. We can fear that which is different from us when do not seek to understand it. Fear of other people has lead us to war throughout time. It led to mass persecution of Christians. These are only to name a few. Jesus faced the wrath of another’s fear. In the early morning hours of the day of His crucifixion, Jesus was the subject of a farce of a trial at the home of Caiaphas the High Priest. The religious leaders were afraid of what Jesus might be--the Messiah that did not come as they expected He should. Jesus was so much more. They feared His words that might even condemn their self-righteousness. They feared what His teachings might require of them. Their fears led them to condemn an innocent man to die a horrible death. What do we do with our fears? Do we face them with the love that Jesus taught and lived? About this love with which Jesus responded, the Bible says: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18. |
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