No Fear

We are going into the Easter season at Branches Church addressing the issue of not being afraid. Jesus was constantly telling His followers to not fear, not be afraid, and to have faith. We're going to be looking at how to not be afraid of God, our neighbor, and our culture, and how to live as the Body of Christ in this world.

I believe too many think that the objective of the church is to convince people they need to leave the culture in which they live and hide out in the four walls of the church --- that somehow it is the culture we live in we are to be extracted from in order to find God in the church. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is creating fear, worry and dread in our Christian churches. Jesus' last words to the church were to go out into the world. His priestly prayer in John chapter 17 asks the Father NOT to take us out of the world, but to keep us from the evil. What part of this are we supposed to be afraid of? None!

What is being twisted, or confusing here is this: it's not the culture we need to be removed from - it's our sin we need to be removed from! That's why we can separate ourselves from the surrounding world and still struggle with sin. We can stop being involved in the culture around us and still struggle with issues of indulgence, addictions, lust, envy, and pride. We can literally move ourselves to an isolated island and live alone for the rest of our lives, offering our body as a sacrifice to poverty and dedication to prayer and still die with lust and pride and envy and hatred in our hearts. It's not the culture we as the church need to extract people from - it's teaching Christ's work on the cross and Resurrection from the grave that separates us from our sin and empowers us to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh. It's not separating ourselves from the world around us. Stop being afraid of it! Just stop already!

Paul asks the question, "Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death?" He goes further and lists more things that are everyday occurrences in this present life: "Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away."

As we celebrate the Easter message of death and Resurrection, we know we can live without fear in this present life because Jesus has conquered it all and we are his, not our own! No Fear!