It’s an honor for me to contribute to this series: the Enemies of Ministry with my fellow contributors. The posts so far have been raw, honest, real, and encouraging. As I was reading and watching the posts, I found myself relating to the temptations of holding offenses, feeling entitled, and launching myself into a non-existent competition. I’d like to add one more enemy of ministry to the list; a temptation that I struggle with more potently than most others in my ministry — fear.
I know I’m not alone here. My Bible tells me stories about men and women all throughout history who have struggled with, fallen victim of, and claimed victory over fear. The term is so broad, as there are many different types of fear. For example, I’ve been afraid that I’d burn a steak on the grill, afraid for the lives of loved ones, afraid that I’d not make it to the bathroom in time, afraid that I’d lose my fingers and never be able to play music again, and the list goes on.
Fear is easy. It can consume any aspect of life if we let it. This especially applies to ministry. I’d like to focus on two major kinds of fear that I’ve dealt with throughout the last few years that I’ve been entrusted as a ministry leader.
1. Fear of Man.
I’m a “people pleaser”. It’s a trait that I’m sure came from the Lord, but many times feels like a burden (when I prioritize pleasing people above pleasing my King). On a regular basis, I find myself afraid to say “no” because I’m afraid of what people will think of me if I do. I’m afraid to confront students who I minister to in their sin for the same reasons. Fear of man goes deep. It has stopped me from being obedient to God when He’s called me to share the gospel to specific people at specific times. It’s even stopped me from encouraging people with Biblical teaching because I’m afraid of who will overhear me and be offended. It’s stupid.
2. Fear of the Unknown
I’m an introvert, and I like to be comfortable, but the Gospel calls me to get out, mix things up, and do things like they’ve never been done before. Too often I’ve been afraid to do things differently because I’m afraid that I’ll fall flat on my face. When this kind of fear arises, I sacrifice the excitement of God for the comfort of myself. I think things like, “we can’t switch our meeting format up like that,” “I can’t preach this uncomfortable passage,” “I can’t approach this new group of people,” “I can’t let the new guy run projection,” and the list goes on and on. Do you see how fear doesn’t only cripple us as ministry leaders, but it takes away major opportunities from our students?
The Cure for Fear is Jesus
Allow me to take a Bible verse out of context and read into it a bit (perfectly theological Christians, beware!). 1 John 4:18a says “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear”. This is one of my favorite Bible verses, and one that I’ve heard quoted many times. Though this verse is talking about the fear of judgement from God, I believe that it applies to any kind of fear that we face in life. John is implying here that the opposite of fear is love. So, if we want to battle fear, our weapon is love. But not just any love; perfect love.
Friends, perfect love is not merely a character trait that we strive for (though this is a healthy part of the Christian life). Perfect love is a person, and His name is Jesus. Jesus removed us from the slavery of living under fear, and placed us in a position of victory, and of decision; we can either choose to live under the bondage of fear, or choose to live under the bondage of perfect love. This isn’t always an easy choice, but it’s a possible one. When we prioritize our love of Jesus over our fear of our peers and fear of the unknown, our ministries experience victory!
Please pray for me as I pray for you, and may your ministry be FEARLESS this coming season!