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the Old Testament prophets. He
spoke of a time of rest, a time of
peace.
Jesus, in His now-famous Sermon
on the Mount, taught: " Blessed are
the
peq.cemakers.
...
Blessed are the
pure in heart .
...
Blessed are the
meek"
(Matthew 5:9 8, 5).
He spoke of the Church as a com- ·
munity of brethren-a family, if you
please. Of authority in the Christian
community He taught: "You know
thát the rulers of the Gentiles lord it
over them [tyrannize-Goodspeed
translation]. and their great men ex–
ercise authority [dominion-KJV]
over them.
It shall not be so among
you;
but whosoever would be great
among you must be your
servan·t''
(Matthew 20:25-26, RSV) . He then
pointed out that He did not come to
be waited on, ministered to, or to be
served: " ... cven as the Son of man
carne not to be served
but to serve"
(Matthew 20:28, RSV) .
Jim J ones, a nd many others,
lorded it over their congregations.
They ruled with force and cruelty.
They controlled with threat, fear and
intimidation . And, in so doing, they
violated the spirit and intent of Jesus'
own instructions to His disciples.
The Apostles' Teaching
Later, the apostles also taught love,
and against fear. "There is no fear in
love; but perfect love casteth out fear:
because fear hath torment"
(1
John
4: 18). Jesus Christ never intended
His brethren to live in a state of
torment and constant fear!
Christians have been called to
peace-not to fear. Paul spoke of
"the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding . .. " (Philippians
4:7). He wrote that peace of mind
should
".fi/1
the hearts" of Christians.
And, again, there is no room for fear
in a heart full of peace! Both love and
peace are listed as fruits or products
produced by the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit in Christians (Galatians
5:22).
If you, as a professing Christian,
lack a sense of peace and well-being
in your life, it could be because you
are failing to follow the leading of the
Spirit of peace. Perbaps you are fail–
ing to "stir up the gift"
(11
Timothy
1:6) that is in you.
The
PLAIN TRUTH June·July 1979
Returning to the teaching of the
Founder of Christianity, Jesus Him–
self, we find Him saying, "Fear not
them which kili the body ... " (Mat–
thew 10:28). That is, Christians
should not fear man! He went on to
say, " ... but rather fear him which
is able to destroy both soul and body
in hell [gehenna]." That is, whatever
"fear" a Christian has should be di–
rected toward God. And even that is
nota morbid or neurotic fear. Rather
it is a healthy respect for the power
and majesty of God. "The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom"
( Psalm 111 : 10).
lt
is a willing ac–
knowledgment of the supremacy and
sovereignty of the Creator.
It
is a
submission to divine authority.
But it is not the fear that " hath
torment." If it were, it would contra–
dict the other teachings of Christ and
His original apostles! Neither is it the
"fearfullooking for of judgment and
fiery indignation" spoken of by Paul
(Hebrews 10:27). That is the fear of
the damned! That is the fear of the
incorrigibly wicked. That is the fear
of the devil!
For those who are "in Christ" -
that is, in a relationship with God
througb Christ and the Holy Spirit–
"there is therefore now
no condem–
nation .
.. "
(Romans 8:1 ). True
Christians do not live in a state of
fear.
To be "in Christ" is to be forgiven.
l t is to be justified of past transgres–
sions. It is to be accepted of God and
considered "righteous." The natural
response of a person in such a rela–
tionship with God can only be grati–
tude and love- not morbid fear.
Representing God?
Those who peddle fear in the name of
God are misrepresenting Him. Those
who seek to bring congregations into
subjection to themselves, as opposed
to God, by means of threat and in–
timidation, are misusing their au–
thority and probabty the Scriptures.
The Bible shows that the relationship
of Christians to each other should be
that of a loving, nurturing family.
The apostle Paul, for example,
taught: "Do not rebuke an older man
but exhort him as you would a father;
treat younger men like brothers, old–
er women like mothers, younger
women like sisters, in all purity"
(l
Timothy 5:1-2, RSV). Here we
see the family relationship of Church
members. Here there is no room for
tyranny. There is no room for "lord–
ing it over" one another. The Church
of God, ideally, should be a loving
family of God's own children.
It
should be a nurturing community. It
should be a community of peace and
harmony and of mutual cooperation.
No one in it should be striving to
force others to do things or see things
bis way, or to obtain a preeminence
over them.
The carnal, unconverted disciples
of Christ, prior to their conversion,
pursued such selfish aims and squab–
bled about who among them should
be the greatest. This craving for self–
importance and dominance is a mark
of unconversion! A converted person
leaves all such matters to God and
concentrates on the service of love.
The apostle John warned against a
man naméd Diotrepbes who "loveth
to have ... preeminence" or, as the
RSV puts it, " likes to put himself
jirst"
(111
John 9). Such men think
that a man's spirituality is measured
by his position in sorne arbitrary ec–
clesiastical pecking order, or vice ver–
sa. But such is not the case. True
spirituality is not equated with au–
thority, or position or status.
lt
is
measured by attitude, humility, and
service. Above all, it is measured by
grace! Of and by himself, no man is
righteous.
If
anyone is considered
righteous, it is strictly by the grace of
God- not by anything he has done.
There is no room in the true body
of Christ for a Jim Jones. There is no
place for intimidation and threats.
There is no room for power struggles
or the rule of fear.
The God of love is not a God of
fear. The God of merey is not a God
who delights in the suffering and
death of His children. The God of the
Bible is not any of the anthropomor–
phic aberrations of men. The God of
the universe is not a cosmic tyrant
oblivious to the sufferings of His hu–
man creation. The true God is not a
divine hanging judge who has gal–
lows from here to eternity awaiting
the necks of mankind.
God and God's
way
are love-not
fear. o
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