Chaplain's Corner

Fear is a powerful motivator. This past fall we saw how powerful it was as the United States and Canada began to respond to the Ebola crisis in Africa. In October three governors put into place mandatory 21 day quarantine for anyone coming into the state from any of the African countries where the Ebola epidemic is taking place. Public health officials were divided, some claiming the need for “an abundance of caution” agreed with the decision of the governors, others from the scientific community and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta said it was unnecessary.

Fear is a powerful motivator. If you believe Oscar Pistorius, the South African Olympian who shot his fiancé through the bathroom door, he acted out of fear, believing that an intruder was in his home. Many of the other tragic shootings that have taken place in the United States were also done because the shooters claimed they were afraid for their lives.

Fear is a powerful motivator. Everyday children resist going to school for fear they will be bullied yet another day and for fear that the teachers and administrators of the schools they attend will do nothing or be impotent to do anything to stop it. Many people live in fear and it motivates them to live their lives in dramatically different ways than they would like, but fear motivates powerfully.

Fear is a powerful motivator. Countless policies and procedures have been put into place in countless public and private institutions in fear of litigation that may someday be initiated against them. Sometimes common sense and common decency and respect are forfeited by these policies and procedures out of fear that one misstep could ruin a career or bring crushing liability against a company or agency.

Fear is a powerful motivator, you and I, every one of us, has changed the way we would like to live, has refrained from speaking up, has altered something in our lives out of fear. Some spouses speak very little in their relationships out of fear of upsetting the other. Some children become obsessively private and “hibernate” in their rooms out of fear of upsetting Mom or Dad. Many friendships quietly dissolve out of fear of some “scene” or “blowup” if they were to confront an issue in the relationship.

Fear is a powerful motivator and there is only one motivator powerful enough to override this crushing, stifling fear. That motivation is love. This is not my opinion, but God’s wisdom. God spoke through the Apostle John nearly 2000 years ago and John recorded the message, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” Love will risk what is feared most, to act in a way that is for the good of the other person in the relationship. Conversely fear acts in what is believed to be the best interest of oneself. Fear is a powerfully selfish motivator; its focus is self-protective, not what is best for the other.

I know this one, I struggle deeply with fear, many times I cave to the fear and don’t believe that love can drive it out. Many relationships have been spoiled by my fear, some irreparably. Even as I enter the last quarter of my life (if I am blessed enough to reach the average age for men in Canada), I am faced day in and day out by the clarion call of God’s wisdom, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.”

This year one of my prayers is, “Lord, dispel the deception that keeps me locked away in fear and set me free to love, even if it hurts, because it is only love that can drive the fear away and bless those in my life that I fear.” Might be a good prayer for you as well.