Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
The title of this blog is from St. John’s first Epistle verse 4:18. It follows from the encouraging words of Christ which we studied a few weeks back: He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him (St. John 14:21). And also, This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you (St. John 15:12).
Christ will manifest Himself to us when we love and keep His commandments. How will He do this? He will reveal to us His Wisdom, His Truth, and His Will. He will protect us and keep us from being tempted beyond what we can bear. He will heal our sicknesses and restore us after we have sinned.
So, what does the manifestation of Christ mean when we are faced with challenges and insurmountable situations? It means He will give us patience and confidence to deal with our problems, He will give us comfort and hope to endure our sufferings, and He will give us a peace and purpose to overcome our obstacles. Not only that, He will continue to help us keep His commandments and help us to abide in His love.
And when things go sideways, the temptation is to give in to our fear and become angry and hateful about what the world is becoming. Fear can cause bitterness and panic.
We of the Bible study, in discussing the anti-Christian developments of the world, are not intending to cause bitterness and panic. We are not encouraging hatred of our leaders and those who are making bad laws and policies.
We would regret deeply if our Bible Study participants were becoming fearful and frantic, and started to hate our enemies and seek mortal vengeance. We do not wish this at all with what we say and teach. This kind of fear makes it hard for us to experience the love, joy, and peace God intends for our daily lives. When we love God and one another first, and keep His commandments, we will have a wise and balanced perspective – persevering in our fallen world, looking to do God’s will on earth as it is in Heaven.
Furthermore, we are not saying that Orthodox Christians should be paralyzed by fear into doing nothing. Fear can be a motivator to safeguard and rescue. We cannot stand by and maintain our calm and poise by ignoring the gathering storms coming upon our schools and work places. Just as it is not wrong to be “afraid” of a wolf, when there really is a wolf prowling about, so we must be on guard for all the “wolves” about us. These “wolves” are dressed in sheep’s clothing and they are among our children. These “wolves” are threatening our Orthodox way of life; our beliefs; our conscience rights.
Though we try to focus on what is Good, True, and Beautiful, we also want to encourage each other regarding the challenges in this world of increasing unbelief.
For example, if you are living in a place and you see a wildfire cresting the hill behind your town, proper fear can motivate you to take appropriate actions, and Christ can help you with those appropriate actions. He will empower you to make plans to save your life and the lives of those around you.
In this way, you are demonstrating your love for Christ, your love of other people, and your keeping of His commandments.
We must face the threats and dangers and act appropriately. We must not be complacent that everything is going to be okay. It’s not true that the winds of nihilism will blow over if we just wait them out and hunker down in the storm shelter.
To turn away our eyes from what is coming, for the sake of avoiding the temptation to fear and hate, seems to be a pretty bad strategy.
Yet, as faithful Orthodox Christians, we must also keep in mind that there is always present a great deal of good in the world. The great Christian philosopher Russell Kirk (1918-1994) wrote: The world remains sunlit despite its vices. Despite the coming chaos and ruin, beneath it all, there is LOGOS, the Manifestation of Christ. There is ultimate meaning. As we studied last fall, Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed (Revelation 5:5).
We who have a realistic sense of the coming threats, who abide in Christ, need to be models of courage and compassion; faith, hope and love.
Finally, perfect love will cast out fear. We will not react with panic and hatred of others. [We] shall know the truth, and the truth shall make [us] free (St. John 8:32).
Christ comforted His disciples about their future: A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also (St. John 14:19). And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper [the Holy Spirit], that He may abide with you forever (St. John 14:16)
At Christ’s Ascension we say: Christ Has Ascended! – From Earth to Heaven!