The Bad, The Ugly & The Good Faces of Fear

The Bad, the Ugly & the Good Faces of Fear
There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life – fear of death, fear of judgment – is one not yet fully formed in love.
1 John 4:18

Don’t fear what they fear. Don’t take on their worries. If you’re going to worry, worry about the The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies. The Holy can be either a Hiding Place or a Boulder blocking your way.
Isa. 8:13 & 14a

Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere (fear) God. Respect the government.
1 Pet. 2:17

A Message by Rev Dr Stanley Lim on 22 & 23 August 2009

Introduction: Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born into wealth & prestige and as a young Harvard graduate, he seemed destined for success. By the age of 30, he was elected as a state governor and a few years later was appointed as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

However, shortly before Roosevelt turned 40, tragedy struck when he contracted polio. It’s hard to imagine the fear he must have felt upon suddenly losing motion in his arms & legs. Franklin Roosevelt could have let fear of living with polio paralyze him, but he rose above it. Through therapy, he regained the use of his hands, and he learned to walk with braces. 8 years later he became the Governor of New York and he was eventually elected the President of the USA.

Interestingly enough, when Roosevelt became President, the American nation was paralyzed. How appropriate that a person who had personally conquered fear would lead a nation filled with fear. In steering the country through the Great Depression & the World War 2, Franklin Roosevelt put his stamp on society & gained notoriety as one of the greatest American leaders of the 20th. century.

Facts about Fear
1) Every generation experiences fear
In the past 100 years alone, Americans have felt the fears of WW1, the Great Depression, WW2, the prospects of nuclear war with the Soviet empire, international terrorism and the present financial recession. Our fears change with the time on which we live, but every generation has fears.
2) Every individual has fears
Each person has something they’re afraid of. Commonly held phobias include public speaking, sickness, insects, heights, loneliness or financial problems. Leaders are not immune to fear either. Peter the Great trembled & wept whenever he had to cross a bridge. Julius Caesar was terrified by thunder & would hide in a cave during severe storms.
3) Fear is destructive
Upon taking office, Franklin Roosevelt saw the crippling effects of fear creeping across the USA. That’s why in his first inaugural address, he famously told Americans, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Let’s look at some of the ways fear undermine leadership.

Destructive effects of fear
1. Fear breeds more fear
By avoiding what we’re afraid of, our fear breeds lack of experience. In turn, inexperience breeds ignorance, which results in even more fear. It’s a vicious, downward cycle.
2. Inaction
Fear paralyses and immobilizes us. In the words of John F. Kennedy, “There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long range risks & cost of comfortable inaction.
3. Divided thinking
Fear removes focus from a person’s life. Like worry, fear divides the mind and prevents concentrated thinking.
4. Isolation
We withdraw from others in an effort not to have our fears exposed. As Michael Pritchard said, “Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.”
5. Procrastination
We delay what we’re scared to do. In my opinion, the only person worse than a quitter is the person afraid to begin.

Three Responses to Fear
1. We can avoid fears
2. We can wait for fear to magically disappear
3. We can face our fears & overcome them
Of course, there’s only one healthy response to fear – facing it courageously. Fear undercuts personal dynamism. Instead of self-confidently emitting enthusiasm, fear causes charisma to erode & gradually robs a leader of influence.

How to constructively face our fears
1. Discover the foundation
2 Tim. 1:7: For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power & love & self control.
Fear usually resides in feelings rather than facts. Drill down into your emotions to figure out the basis of your fears.
2. Admit your fears
1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins he is faithful & just, and will forgive our sins & cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We never help people by trying to cover up our failures. Admit them & realize you will make them. Something about owning up to our failures helps us deal with the fear of making them.
3. Accept fear as the price of progress
To overcome fear we have to get faith.
Matt. 14:22-33 – Read the Message Bible
We have the terrible idea that we can eventually rid ourselves of fear. However, if you want to grow, then you will encounter fears the rest of your life. The good news is this: each victory over fear adds to your confidence/faith and helps you to overcome fear again in the future.
4. Develop a burning desire within you
Philippians 3:10,11: I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.
Get red hot. Desire propels you to go where you are afraid to go and to do what you are scared to do.
5. Focus on what you can control
Philippians 4:8,9: Friends I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice whatever you learned from me, what you heard & saw & realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into His most excellent harmonies.
I can control my attitude, but I cannot control the actions of others. I can control my calendar, but I cannot control life circumstances. Remember: it’s not what happens to you, but what happens IN YOU that counts.
6. Feed the right emotion & starve the wrong one
Philippians 4:13: I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.
We have both fear & courage(faith) within ourselves. Here’s what I have learned: you cannot purge either one. However, you can weaken the emotion of fear by starving it. Whichever impulse we feed dominates. When we feel fear, but act anyway, we deprive fear of nourishment and strengthen the impulse of courage inside of us.

Conclusion: I close with a quote from Franklin Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor, a fantastic leader in her own right: “You gain strength, courage & confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, in not daring to come to grips with it. If you fail anywhere along the line, it will take away your confidence. You must make yourself succeed every time. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”