Fear Factor
Ever seen the show Fear Factor? People eat...like...blended bug milkshakes, slugs, cow eyes. Ugh! Of course, that's right before they belly slide down sky scrapers and get shackled in boxes under water. Bravery definately required. Overall, the show has a "cool" rep so facing these fears is "in."
What I'd like to see is someone facing their fear of man. Sometimes it's called peer pressure but it's really fear in its rawest and perhaps most powerful form.
Can we go deep for a minute? The Lord recently revealed something to me about peer pressure. I feel led to share it with you but you'll need to get your brain in gear. This is serious stuff. Stick with me, though. It's worth a peek.
Reading scripture recently, I came across a verse that talked about fearing God. I looked up the Hebrew definition of what it actually means to fear God. It read "to stand in awe; to submit." I imagined myself kneeling before the God of the universe submitting to his very presence. The Lord showed me that this is what we do when we succumb to peer pressure. We "stand in awe and submit" to people. Imagine yourself kneeling before the people you fear!!! Cliques. (Fearing not being "in" with them so you dress like them.) Guys. (Fearing not keeping or gettting enough attention so you flirt.) Friends. (Fearing being different from them so you don't speak up.) We usually have a choice when we behave a certain way. Sadly, I think sometimes we fear man while at the same time ignoring the call to submit to God.
I mean, really, we don't sit with the new kid on the bus who feels totally lonely because we're AFRAID our friends might not think we were cool...all the while God tugs at our heart to reach out. We don't speak up in biology class when the teacher starts spewing evolutionary-theory as fact because we're AFRAID we might be the only one who believes it's a myth...but the Holy Spirit keeps pushing us each day to say something. And you want to get really on the edge here? We don't invite the lesbian in our second period class to youth group because we're AFRAID we might not look spiritual if we had "friends like that"...but Jesus keeps putting in in your heart to invite her to meet Him. Puuuuh-leaze!
At the very heart of it, we are choosing who we bow to...man or Jesus. Peer pressure (when it causes us to act differently than God calls us to act) is really submitting to...standing in awe of...bowing before...WORSHIPPING man.
Chose today to spend this school year standing in awe of GOD...not man! Slip into the seat next to the new kid. Raise your hand confidently in the class that's teaching contradicts God's truth. Invite that lost girl to youth group.Submit to the will of our great and loving God!
"Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing!" Psalm 34:9
