Pastoral Thought--July 1

Today’s pastoral thought comes from the writing of Donald Miller. I was introduced to Miller’s work some years ago when I was given his first book, Blue like Jazz—its a book I highly recommend. The follow-up to that bestseller is A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned while Editing my Life. The author’s writing style is a combination of Christian essays and revealing narratives about himself and his struggles with the faith. Donald struggles in much the same ways that you and I struggle. His willingness to put those struggles on paper is helpful for us as the church today. 

In A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, he writes: 

"The most often repeated commandment in the Bible is “Do not fear.” It’s in there over two hundred times. That means a couple of things, if you think about it. It means we are going to be afraid, and it means we shouldn’t let fear boss us around. Before I realized  we were supposed to fight fear, I thought of fear as a subtle suggestion in our subconscious designed to keep us safe, or more important, to keep us from getting humiliated. And I guess it served that purpose. But fear isn’t only a guide to keep us safe; it’s also a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life."

One of my favorite podcast commentators says that each week he finds himself hiding behind his couch in fear. Think of all the things that are rooted in some form of fear. . . The coronavirus. The economy. The political landscape of our world. Our children’s schools and relationships. The future of the church universal. Our health and the health of our loved ones and friends. The social unrest that lives in our world. I could go on and on about what there is to fear. In that way, I join my podcast-friend in wanting to hide behind the couch in fear. 

But if we read Miller, and if we stop and think about what he saying, then we realize that fear does not have the last work in our day. If God is with us, and if we trust in God, then what remains to fear? If we left fear have the last word in our days, if we let it limit who we can become and how we can speak about God at work with us, then we are guilty of allowing it to be a “manipulative emotion that can trick up into living a boring life.” 

This type of fear is not something that Jesus wanted us to address alone. Instead, if we remember the biblical promises that Miller mentions above, then we find a way to move forward in a fear-based world. . . I wonder, how do you address fear when it surfaces in your day? 

Blessings

Rev. Derek