Practicing the Fear of the Lord?
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have good understanding.” [Psalm 111:10]
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves." [James 1:22]
We’ve probably all heard of ‘practicing the presence of the Lord’ (a la Brother Lawrence), but what does it mean to 'practice the fear of the Lord’? I read this recently and was struck by the idea that I thought the fear of the lord was only something I had, or felt—not something I practiced. I thought it was more of an emotion, not an action. So, what does it mean to practice the fear of the Lord?
James nails it in Chapter 1:22-25:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of he word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in the doing. [Context]
The underlying motive is to have faith with legs—that is, a rock-solid Christian faith that actually bears fruit into real-life decisions and actions; a faith that runs. Having these commands and principles, and seeking to apply them and encourage others to apply them—practicing the fear of the Lord—was the inspiration for the last message or two I’ve sent out. And yes, it got a bit messy.
But the desire of my heart (and yours, I trust), which fuels these little messages, is that you and I would not be counted among the millions of Christians who are 'hearers only’ of God’s Word. That’s why, for about the past two months (or so) we’ve been searching the Truth (not truths) and wisdom of the Almighty God, found in the Scriptures, and seeking how to apply it to every aspect of our regular, everyday, real life—not our imagined one. And that’s precisely why the recent general election was fair game: it's simply a part of life to which Scripture and godly principles must be applied—especially today, when we have a say in the battle for the unborn and for the preservation of marriage. If we are silent on the issues precisely when they are issues, we fail, as Martin Luther said:
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every part of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, then I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all battlefields besides is merely flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point. (Quoted in Parker T. Williamson, Standing Firm: Reclaiming Christian Faith in Times of Controversy [Springfield, PA: PLC Publications, 1996], p. 5.)
So, in order to actually practice the fear of the Lord by being doers of the word, we need to set a few things straight about our concept of what Christianity itself is and is not: it is not an extra-curricular activity, it is not a profession, it is not a club, neither is it merely a social gathering. It is a life spent with God, that invades all of life, or it is nothing. That means with God in our thinking, with God in our decision-making, with God in our desires, with God in our purposes, with God in our actions, and, ultimately, with God in eternity. Let me explain.
Picture all the ideas and activities of your life as a desk full of drawers (here's my 'social' drawer, my 'employment' drawer, my 'physical fitness' drawer, my 'personal finances' drawer, etc.). What is marked "Christianity"? Is it one of the many drawers in the desk, or is it the desk itself? If it’s just a drawer, you’ve been deceived. Christianity is no mere ‘religion drawer;’ it is either the desk itself (into which all other drawers go), or it is not Christianity at all—despite its label.
This means that every idea or action in our life (or every drawer in our desk), must be reshaped (or even discarded) in order to fit into the 'desk' of Christianity. Everything must be 'held' or 'stored' or even 'hidden' within the context and the restrictions of our 'desk' of Christianity. Some drawers won't hold some items. Some drawers, we might find, are bottomless (like the 'joy' drawer). Sometimes an entire drawer won't fit in the desk (like a 'sex life' drawer if one is not married), and must be utterly discarded. Instead, it is an all-encompassing, uncompromising, and exclusive view of every aspect of reality. It is a total world- and life-view.
Renovating our lives to this model is a process; usually a life-long one. If we are to succeed, we must be continually testing the drawers (our ideas and actions) to see if they still open and close smoothly in the desk. If not, they’ll need reshaping; and Scripture is our sandpaper (and our table saw, and our fire to burn the remnants). This is how we practice the fear of the Lord: by being doers of the word, and not hearers only: and that means application.
Before I stop, I’m in that process, too. Things have gotten a little messy around here this past week; I've been both the offender and the offended. But here, especially, is where our Christianity either has legs and gets up to run the race, or it is found to be non-existent. Here is where the rubber wheels hit the road—and if they don’t, our faith is not genuine: it’s merely a showpiece on display. So, next week, we're going to start a few-week series on what it means to be subject to a Master who commands that we love one another—no matter what. And we’ll look at—as practically as I can—how to actually apply it. How should we disagree? How do we deal with confrontation? It won’t be new material, but I hope to package it in a new and fresh way that gets the point across.
I hope you'll stick around for it...
For Further Reading
If you never read the articles from www.boundless.org from a few weeks back, do so. They’re very, very good.
all those who practice it have good understanding.” [Psalm 111:10]
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves." [James 1:22]
We’ve probably all heard of ‘practicing the presence of the Lord’ (a la Brother Lawrence), but what does it mean to 'practice the fear of the Lord’? I read this recently and was struck by the idea that I thought the fear of the lord was only something I had, or felt—not something I practiced. I thought it was more of an emotion, not an action. So, what does it mean to practice the fear of the Lord?
James nails it in Chapter 1:22-25:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of he word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in the doing. [Context]
The underlying motive is to have faith with legs—that is, a rock-solid Christian faith that actually bears fruit into real-life decisions and actions; a faith that runs. Having these commands and principles, and seeking to apply them and encourage others to apply them—practicing the fear of the Lord—was the inspiration for the last message or two I’ve sent out. And yes, it got a bit messy.
But the desire of my heart (and yours, I trust), which fuels these little messages, is that you and I would not be counted among the millions of Christians who are 'hearers only’ of God’s Word. That’s why, for about the past two months (or so) we’ve been searching the Truth (not truths) and wisdom of the Almighty God, found in the Scriptures, and seeking how to apply it to every aspect of our regular, everyday, real life—not our imagined one. And that’s precisely why the recent general election was fair game: it's simply a part of life to which Scripture and godly principles must be applied—especially today, when we have a say in the battle for the unborn and for the preservation of marriage. If we are silent on the issues precisely when they are issues, we fail, as Martin Luther said:
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every part of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, then I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all battlefields besides is merely flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point. (Quoted in Parker T. Williamson, Standing Firm: Reclaiming Christian Faith in Times of Controversy [Springfield, PA: PLC Publications, 1996], p. 5.)
So, in order to actually practice the fear of the Lord by being doers of the word, we need to set a few things straight about our concept of what Christianity itself is and is not: it is not an extra-curricular activity, it is not a profession, it is not a club, neither is it merely a social gathering. It is a life spent with God, that invades all of life, or it is nothing. That means with God in our thinking, with God in our decision-making, with God in our desires, with God in our purposes, with God in our actions, and, ultimately, with God in eternity. Let me explain.
Picture all the ideas and activities of your life as a desk full of drawers (here's my 'social' drawer, my 'employment' drawer, my 'physical fitness' drawer, my 'personal finances' drawer, etc.). What is marked "Christianity"? Is it one of the many drawers in the desk, or is it the desk itself? If it’s just a drawer, you’ve been deceived. Christianity is no mere ‘religion drawer;’ it is either the desk itself (into which all other drawers go), or it is not Christianity at all—despite its label.
This means that every idea or action in our life (or every drawer in our desk), must be reshaped (or even discarded) in order to fit into the 'desk' of Christianity. Everything must be 'held' or 'stored' or even 'hidden' within the context and the restrictions of our 'desk' of Christianity. Some drawers won't hold some items. Some drawers, we might find, are bottomless (like the 'joy' drawer). Sometimes an entire drawer won't fit in the desk (like a 'sex life' drawer if one is not married), and must be utterly discarded. Instead, it is an all-encompassing, uncompromising, and exclusive view of every aspect of reality. It is a total world- and life-view.
Renovating our lives to this model is a process; usually a life-long one. If we are to succeed, we must be continually testing the drawers (our ideas and actions) to see if they still open and close smoothly in the desk. If not, they’ll need reshaping; and Scripture is our sandpaper (and our table saw, and our fire to burn the remnants). This is how we practice the fear of the Lord: by being doers of the word, and not hearers only: and that means application.
Before I stop, I’m in that process, too. Things have gotten a little messy around here this past week; I've been both the offender and the offended. But here, especially, is where our Christianity either has legs and gets up to run the race, or it is found to be non-existent. Here is where the rubber wheels hit the road—and if they don’t, our faith is not genuine: it’s merely a showpiece on display. So, next week, we're going to start a few-week series on what it means to be subject to a Master who commands that we love one another—no matter what. And we’ll look at—as practically as I can—how to actually apply it. How should we disagree? How do we deal with confrontation? It won’t be new material, but I hope to package it in a new and fresh way that gets the point across.
I hope you'll stick around for it...
For Further Reading
If you never read the articles from www.boundless.org from a few weeks back, do so. They’re very, very good.
posted by Unknown at 11/05/2004 02:19:00 PM
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