On the Spirit of Fear

Apart from Romans 13:1, for my money the most frequently cited Bible verse during the COVID years was 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” Christians who quoted it were usually trying to encourage one another not to overreact to the media propaganda campaign that had so many around us in an absolutely irrational state.

As with so many verses evangelicals quote out of context, they were applying this one to a subject we can safely say never occurred to its author. Paul was not writing about fear of the early 2020s pandemic or any other.

Fear of What?

We know this because Paul tells us exactly what kind of fear he has in mind. The verse begins with the Greek conjunction γάρ, translated “for”, which points us back to the previous clause in the same sentence. Strong’s says it means “because” or “therefore”. The sentence gives Timothy both an instruction and a reason to follow it. The fact that God did not give believers a spirit of fear is the reason, and the instruction for which that reason exists is this: “Fan into flame the gift of God which is in you.” So then, the fear Paul has in mind is not the fear of dying of the plague, the fear of infecting somebody you love, the fear of government overreach or societal transformation. It’s the fear of identifying publicly with Christ and speaking on his behalf. It’s the fear of men, their opinions about the gospel, and their potential to respond to that message with hostility.

We can confirm apostolic intent from verse 8. Paul goes on to say, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord.” Again, it begins with a conjunction pointing us back to verse 7. This one means substantially the same thing as γάρ. So then, Paul intended Timothy to read verses 5 through 14 together. They are all about the same subject: courage in speaking the truth about Christ in an environment where faith is under attack.

Fear and Faith

Healthy fear is a good thing. The fear of the Lord, for example, is the beginning of wisdom. This is not that sort of fear. It’s not just respect or reverence, or even prudent caution such as Paul expressed when he pointed out that setting sail through certain parts of the Mediterranean in winter was a dodgy proposition doomed to failure. The word δειλός and two others in the same word family denote the sort of unreasoning dread that results in cowardice and even paralysis, a quivering timidity scripture contrasts with faith.

When Jesus calmed the storm, he asked his disciples, “Why are you afraid [δειλός], O you of little faith?” In fact, the book of Revelation tells us that cowardly people [δειλός] have their place in the lake of fire alongside the faithless, the detestable, murderers, sexually immoral people, sorcerers, idolaters and chronic liars. Presumably, the apostle John is referring to people who never trust Christ for salvation because they dare not risk the hostility of unbelievers; people who are more concerned about humiliation, shame or the possibility of physical injury than about obeying the commands of God and having their sins forgiven.

Keeping it in Perspective

That same spirit of fear could have kept Timothy from using the tools God had given him to do the work to which the Lord had called him. Paul wanted to ensure his protégée did not give in to it. Such apprehensions do not come from God. The spirit he gave us manifests in power, love and self-control. It puts the spiritual needs of others before our own safety, well-being or self-image. It values eternity over time.

That’s not, by the way, to say it’s okay for Christians be paralyzed into inertia by the prospect of another pandemic. Cowering is never a good look. But our willingness to identify publicly with our Savior and to play our part in the work to which he has called us is far more important than how we respond to the latest round of media fearmongering.