A Spirit of Fear

While researching tomorrow's blog entry, I came across this verse. Paul famously wrote, "God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Tim 1:7). We like that one. We really do. It resounds with us. Like Nike's "Just do it" or the ever present, "You do you," or the very popular idea of "Don't let anyone get in the way of your dreams." We like that. There is only one problem. Paul wasn't talking about that.

Fear is not all bad. In fact, there are things that should be feared. There is the obvious. Don't be fearless in front of an oncoming bus. That kind of thing. There is the really problematic. "There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Rom 3:18) was regarded as a real problem. So what was the point of "God has not given us the spirit of fear"?

Paul was writing to Timothy. Remembering his sincere faith that was passed down from his mother and grandmother, Paul told him, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands." (2 Tim 1:6). Now, I put a period just there, but my version has a comma; there's more to the thought. But Paul's point here is to urge Timothy "to fan into flame the gift of God." What was holding Timothy back? Apparently it was this "fear" he references in verse 7.

The word is interesting. Throughout the New Testament the Greek word translated fear is some form of φόβος -- phobos -- from which we obviously get our own "phobias." The word refers to that which strikes terror (or, in one, single translated instance, "respect" (Eph 5:31)). When Paul bemoaned the fact that "There is no fear of God before their eyes," he used that word, phobos. This is not that word. The word translated "fear" here occurs in the New Testament only in this text. Nowhere else. Its root occurs 4 times (Matt 8:26; Mark 4:40; Heb 12:28; Rev 21:8). It most correctly means "cowardly" or "timid." So in this verse in 2 Timothy the KJV translates it as "fear" while the NAS prefers "timidity" and Interlinear goes with "cowardice." Clearly these are all related and somewhat similar, but phobos -- terror -- and "timidity" or "cowardice" are not quite the same.

So what is Paul's point here? Paul is not saying, "There's nothing to fear." Clearly, there are lots of things we should fear, beginning with God. What Paul is saying here is "In those things that God has given you to do, don't be timid. That's not why God gave them to you. That's not what God empowered you to be. In those things God has given you to do and be, He has given you power and love and a sound mind. Don't be timid, then, but be powerful, loving, and thinking clearly."

All of the sudden it doesn't seem to be nearly as much about "Don't be afraid" and about a whole lot more, doesn't it?