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PILGRIM’S PROBLEMS #1
FEAR FACTOR.
Ten-year-old Michael wanted to take up judo--despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a car accident. Michael signed on to study under an old Japanese judo master. Although Michael was making great progress, he felt frustrated. You see, after three months of training, the master kept focusing his attention on perfecting just one move.
“Sensei,” Michael respectfully protested, “why can’t I spend more time practicing some other moves?”
“Keep perfecting this move. It’s very important,” the sensei replied.
Not fully understanding, but trusting the teacher, Michael kept training. After several months he was ready for his first competition.
Surprising himself, Michael breezed through the first two matches and advanced to the semi-finals. This match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became restless and charged headlong at Michael. That’s when Michael deftly used his one move to score a victory.
Stunned by his unexpected success, he was now in the finals against an opponent who was quicker, stronger, and more experienced. For most of the match Michael was outplayed. Worried about the boy’s safety, the referee tried to call the match.
“No!” the sensei objected. “Let the match continue. My boy’s still in it.”
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Michael’s opponent dropped his guard. Instantly, Michael executed his one move to perfection. Next thing he knew, Michael was standing in the winner’s circle next to a trophy taller than he was.
On the ride home, Michael and his teacher discussed every move of each match. Then Michael asked the burning question: “Sensei, how did I win the tournament when I only practiced one move?”
“You won for two reasons,” replied the instructor. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most challenging throws in judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”
The boy’s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
The apostle Paul once wrote, “I quit focusing on [my] handicap . . . Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become” (1 Corinthians 12:9-10, The Message).
That’s a good text to remember the next time you’re inclined to beat yourself up because of your flaws. Fact is, we all have our challenges and problems. As they say, “pobody’s nerfect.” We’ve all got problems. That’s why I’m excited about our topic for this week. We’re going to uncover some of the more common problems that pilgrims face on their journey, in a quest to find strength in our weakness.
We’ll start today by tackling the problem of fear. If you’ve ever seen Fear Factor on TV, you know that Hollywood has capitalized on this universal emotion.
You may know that critics have not been kind to the show. Robert Bianco of USA Today described Fear Factor as perhaps “the most vile program ever to air on a major network.” In The Washington Post, Tom Shales hailed the program as “a sickening exercise in cruelty and venality ... rotten and despicable” while Barbara Phillips of The Wall Street Journal anointed it the “most depressing, nauseating and just plain disgusting prime-time series to date.”
Such comments have in no way hampered enthusiastic viewers from religiously watching youthful contestants face fears like lying in a coffin with 400 biting rats or dangling from a helicopter in hopes of winning $50,000.
Frankly, I’m puzzled over our obsession with Fear Factor. Maybe it’s because we live in what Barry Glassner has labeled “a culture of fear.” From an early age we’re conditioned to fear. What did your mom say to you as a little kid on your way to school? “Be careful!” It’s a rare mom that says, “Take risks honey. Embrace danger. Look just one way when you cross the street.”
Now, of course, some fear is a good thing. The Bible commands us to “fear God,” that is, to have a healthy respect for Him. I have a real healthy respect for gravity, that’s why I am afraid to jump off a 10-story building. That’s not a bad thing. But not all fear is so healthy.
Sometimes fear prevents us from taking leaps of faith. While we must fear God and have a healthy respect for His laws, God also invites us to exercise faith over irrational fears. In this way, we are released from the prison of fear and ushered into the adventure of God’s kingdom. Harry Emerson Fosdick offers this summary: “Fear imprisons, faith liberates; fear paralyzes, faith empowers; fear disheartens, faith encourages; fear sickens, faith heals; fear makes useless, faith makes serviceable—and, most of all, fear puts hopelessness at the heart of life, while faith rejoices in its God.”
So what are you going to build your life upon? Fear? Or Faith? To simplify, consider this: the faith-based life is built on action, while the fear-based life is built on avoidance. Let’s unpack that, shall we?
First, consider the fear-based life. The first human response to fear was avoidance. There is no record of fear in the human experience until sin entered the world. After Adam disobeyed, God cornered him in the Garden of Eden and called out, “Where are you?”
Listen to Adam’s answer: “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” (Genesis 3:10, NIV).
Adam could have confessed his sin to God. Instead, he hid. Generally speaking, fear prompts people into hiding rather than into the light. Default mode for fear is to escape down avenues of avoidance.
What are these avenues? Well, there are many faces of fear. One face is procrastination. It works like this: There’s a phone call I need to make, but it’s going to involve confrontation and truth-telling. Because I’m afraid of this unsavory task, I keep putting it off.
Another face of fear is denial. Some folk deny reality by watching “reality” TV in excess, or escaping in a bottle, or staying busy all the time—these are just some of the distractions that enable us to play the denial card with our fears.
There are other faces of fear, of course, but here’s the deal with avoidance: Avoidance promises short-term relief, but it’s a long-term prison. It may stick a bandage on my anxiety, but it doesn’t solve squat. Furthermore, it’s a way of saying that I can’t handle reality.
You may remember the line from the movie A Few Good Men. Tom Cruise is interrogating Jack Nicholson on the witness chair. In total exasperation, Tom Cruise shouts, “I just want the truth.” Remember Nicholson’s retort? “You can’t haaaaaaaandle the truth.”
Well, that’s the Devil’s line to trap us in fear. “You can’t handle the truth.” How different from what Jesus tells us. He promises, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32, NIV). You have to decide, whom do you trust? Jesus or Jack? (Nicholson, that is!) “You can’t handle the truth” or “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”?
Now we’re getting to the heart of a faith-based life. This life is based on truth and action as opposed to trickery and avoidance in a fear-based life.
Every time you face your fear you bolster your belief that you and God can handle anything. That’s how faith gets built. Conversely, if you opt to avoid the issue, God cannot do His work in you.
So here’s an assignment: Identify one area in your life where you have been paralyzed by fear. Then decide on one step that you can take toward constructively addressing this problem.
Is it a phone call you need to make? Maybe an apology that you owe to someone? Maybe it’s something you did that no one else knows about, but it hurt others, and the only way to make it right is to confess and ask for forgiveness. I know it won’t be easy, but friend, I challenge you to exercise discipline and do what is right. Walk the way of faith rather than caving into your fears. Act! Don’t avoid.
Maybe your fear involves your marriage. You haven’t said anything to your spouse because you’re afraid of the pain and conflict. But God is saying, “You need to talk.” So will you do it? Nobody can act for you. Acting on your fear will release the power of God in your life through faith in a way that nothing else will.
Maybe your problem is an addictive behavior and the Evil One keeps whispering, “It’ll never get better. Just keep it hidden.” You’ve been hiding and your biggest fear has been getting caught. God’s calling you now to step toward the light.
As you commit to taking that hard step of faith, let me arm you with a child’s prayer to take with you. Susie was afraid to walk next door to her grandpa’s house because it involved going through a field of tall grass. The girl was frightened because she harbored unrealistic fears about monsters and boogiemen that she believed lurked in the field.
Her father assured her that God would be with her. “Don’t fear,” he encouraged, “Jesus is a real person. He’ll be with you. You won’t be alone. He’s with you all the time—even in that scary field.”
“Really?” Susie wanted to be sure.
“Yes, no kidding, He really is.”
Suddenly she perked up and quipped, “Okay, then. I’m going to Grandpa’s. Come on Jesus.”
It’s that simple. God is calling you to face your fear—to walk through whatever frightening field you have in your life. When you start walking in that direction, you’ll be tempted to foster destructive thoughts. Instead of feeding your doubts, pray this prayer: “Come on, Jesus.”
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