Don't pay attention to scare tactics
Fear has always been a really effective tool for getting people to do what you want. Entire governments have operated under this principle. Parents have employed this technique with great success. I know many parents who have told their kids that if they pee in the pool then a red ring will appear, letting everyone know what they’ve done (I think I’m going to do this- it’s funny). The media has made liberal use of fear in our country. Political discourse is based on fear (“if you take the other guy’s stance, then our country will be destroyed”). Churches have also kept fear-based tactics en vogue. Some frame salvation in terms of fear (“if you don’t pray this prayer, then God will burn you in hell”). Or, they take a page out of the political book (“if we accept a certain kind of person in the church, then God will burn us in hell”).
Faith communities simply should not be run like the media or governments. It should not be a place where the leaders use tactics to make subtle power plays to get people to do what they want. I once heard a pastor say, “If you say what you want forcefully enough, and repeat it enough times, eventually people will do what you want.” That isn’t what faith is about (that pastor recently left ministry, thankfully). Faith is not about making a name for ourselves, or building a legacy, or getting fame or fortune. So many leaders have used fear-based tactics to do this for themselves. And you know what? Shame on them. Because what we see here in this passage is a direct contradiction to that. We see, as we’ve said, a God who offers us an alternative life to one of fear. One in which we place our ultimate trust in our higher power, not something else. We discern, together, what’s good for a community. We don’t listen to people who make us afraid so that they can get their own psychological cravings met. That nonsense needs to stop.
I want that alternative life. One where I see a bigger picture. One where I understand that I’m not in charge of the universe and that the world does not revolve around me, and that my community does not revolve around me. One in which we reject power dynamics and power plays in favor of working together to submit to God and follow his voice and call. I don’t want a life where I’m constantly making certain choices because I’m afraid of what will happen if I don’t.
And, as far as I can tell, God doesn’t want that either.
