The fear of man is a lot larger reality in our lives that we believe. "If you want to know whether or not you fear God, note your reaction when good things are taken from you." (pg. 114) "Fear of man is such a part of our human fabric that we should check for a pulse if someone denies it.' (pg 17) Do you want to see the fear of man rear its head? Start talking to people about evangelism. In our culture it is often labeled by other names; peer pressure, people-pleasing, codependency, pride, introversion, self-pity, etc. Edward T. Welch writes in When People Are Big and God is Small that we all have a fear of man and explains that freedom from it has three parts: a biblically informed knowledge of God, other people, and ourselves. He breaks down these three into steps that help reveal the sinful fear of others in our lives and replace it with a godly fear.
Rightfully, Edward Welch begins and spends much of the book describing the amazing attributes of God explaining, "The most radical treatment for the fear of man is the fear of the Lord" (pg. 19). God is a lot bigger than we can even begin to imagine. "Scripture speaks of unimaginable love alongside holy anger. God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love, but he also does not leave the guilty unpunished" (pg. 103) We need to understand all sides of God's holiness; His grace, love, and mercy, balanced with justice, anger, and wrath. God is awesome, powerful, beautiful and His handiwork is displayed everywhere. Many of today's sermons in America feed into self-centered thinking by providing self-help sermons. "The result [of too many application sermons] is that our goal can be self-improvement rather than the glory of the Holy God. We need more sermons that leave us trembling." (pg. 96) "A growing knowledge of God displaces the fear of people, and it casts out our tendency to be casual with our secret sins." (pg. 107)
Another step in overcoming the fear of man is having a biblical understanding of ourselves and others. It is important for us to realize how sinful we are and that our dependency is on God not on others. Welch says we ascribe too often God's attributes to other people, "People are our favorite idol. We exalt them and their perceived power above God. We worship them as ones who have God-like exposing gazes or God-like ability to "fill" us with esteem, love, admiration, acceptance, respect, and other psychological desires" (pg. 45). He states that too often we worry that other people will think we are fanatics, that we are stupid, or that they won't respond to us the way we want (fear of people), instead of being more concerned about our own sin and obeying God (fear of God). We then begin to make excuses for our fear of man, calling our sins "shortcomings," saying we are only human, or appealing to the majority for decisions. Instead of living godly we give in because we fear others. In reference to this, Edward Welch makes this convicting statement, "Sometimes we would prefer to die for Jesus than to live for Him." (pg. 39) He declares that "what we fear shows our allegiances. It shows where we put our trust. It shows who is big in our lives." (pg. 47)
When People Are Big and God is Small is a great book that dives into the excuses we make for the fear of man and the remedies for them. The heart of the book is the gospel message, which Welch digs deep into and reveals a better understanding of the gospel than a basic 'Romans Road' presentation describes. He says, "The good news of Jesus is not intended to make us feel good about ourselves. Instead, the good news humbles us" (pg. 146). Throughout the book we find out that we are more sinful than "all fall short" leads us to believe. We take every second of blessing from God and lace it with sin (boasting, self-pity, lies, fear, worry, lust, coveting, etc.). We are idol factories, exaggerating the power of people over us and ascribing them the ability to fulfill our desires. We "stretch the truth" to make ourselves more comfortable in a situation and justify it by saying we are only human or others just don't understand the situation. We create a perceived need in our eyes (more accurately a lust), and make justifications for desiring something God hasn't granted us. When discussing the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the good news of Christ's death and resurrections the author states, "When the fear of the Lord matures in you, Christ becomes irresistible" (pg. 123).
In the book, Welch gets right to the root of these issues, lays out God's wonderful news of His love and transforming power, and offers practical advice on steadily overcoming the fear of others. "THE problem is clear: People are too big in our lives and God is too small. The answer is straightforward: We must learn to know that our God is more loving and more powerful than we ever imagined." (pg. 113)
4 comments:
I'm finding that some of the only people who give this book favorable reviews are those who see something pragmatic they feel they can gain from it,
(e.g. if you're a pastor you think it's nifty that this book may cause Christians to be bolder in sharing their faith)
-or those who have a paranoia or knee jerk, sad, and uneducated reaction to believe that all psychology is somehow "un Christian," wrong, or evil.
I do think in some areas the author raises some good points, but I don't see much Scriptural support for some of his views, especially regarding his central belief, which is that humans do not have any God-given or real "psychological needs."
The author's chief method of argumentation is to say he does NOT see support in the Bible for the belief that humans do have a psychological need to be loved by God or by other people.
I do believe the Bible is clear in numerous places that God did instill in humanity psychological needs, including the need to be loved by God and by others.
And yet, the author offers up very flimsy interpretations of such passages to make them sound as though they are not saying any such thing, or he simply flat out denies their obvious meaning because it conflicts with his neat-o thesis.
The author's method is to say, "Okay, you know the verse that says we all need God's love? I know such and such Bible verse sounds like it's saying we need God's love, but that's not what it means at all. What it really means is that we don't really need his love."
He argues that way repeatedly throughout his book.
That is the lamest, laziest hermeneutics I think I've ever seen.
Again, his manner of explaining Bible verses comes down to this:
"Don't trust your own lying eyes and what you read on the Bible's pages. Trust what I'm telling you it really says."
The author actually advises his readers at one point that to want Jesus Christ to meet any of their psychological needs is to *commit idolatry*.
Despite the fact that the New Testament tells us to cast all our cares on Jesus (and the Bible does NOT say that those cares encompass ONLY "spiritual" or "biological" needs), this author is telling us not to cast our cares on Jesus because doing so is idolatrous.
And that is nothing short of remarkable, in a very troubling way.
(part 1) I'm finding that some of the only people who give this book favorable reviews are those who see something pragmatic they feel they can gain from it,
(e.g. if you're a pastor you think it's nifty that this book may cause Christians to be bolder in sharing their faith)
-or those who have a paranoia or knee jerk, sad, and uneducated reaction to believe that all psychology is somehow "un Christian," wrong, or evil.
I do think in some areas the author raises some good points, but I don't see much Scriptural support for some of his views, especially regarding his central belief, which is that humans do not have any God-given or real "psychological needs."
The author's chief method of argumentation is to say he does NOT see support in the Bible for the belief that humans do have a psychological need to be loved by God or by other people.
I do believe the Bible is clear in numerous places that God did instill in humanity psychological needs, including the need to be loved by God and by others.
And yet, the author offers up very flimsy interpretations of such passages to make them sound as though they are not saying any such thing, or he simply flat out denies their obvious meaning because it conflicts with his neat-o thesis.
(Sorry for the double posts, but your blog is having some kind of technical problem. Here's the rest of my post that got cut off earlier)
Here is a quote from Welch's book where he is talking about one of his patients, a woman named Nancy:
"With this at the core, she knew that the answer was not to turn to Christ to meet her felt need. That would have made Jesus her personal talisman or idol.”
The author's comments there (and else where in the book) are totally contrary to biblical teachings found in Matthew 11: 28-30, 1 Peter 5:7, Psalms 55: 22, etc.
I think you might want to reconsider whole heartedly, enthusiastically recommending a book that teaches that as well as stuff such as this:
“If we are talking about psychological needs, then no, we do not need relationships - with God or people - to fill our longings for significance and love.” (quote by Welch on page 162)
-or at least give your readers a disclaimer where you tell them you only recommend the book with huge caveats.
I honestly do not see how any true Christian can, without serious reservation, give a total "thumbs up" to a book by a guy who says that turning to Christ in time of pain and tribulation is tantamount to idolatry (idolatry!), or that one cannot "find significance," love, or meaning in a relationship with God (!!!!).
While the main point of the Bible is that we're lost sinners in need of a Savior, it does not follow that this is God's *only* concern for humanity, or that God did not give us "psychological needs," or that He's unwilling to meet them if we do have them (and yes, we do have him).
This post is nearly three years old. Why start a ranting, nameless polemic on something that is so far removed from our most current postings?
I think you missed the point of the book. While you may disagree with his teaching otherwise, the book is about how we fear obedience to God because we are more afraid of what people will think of us.
This drive-by anonymous comment makes me think I should disable the commenting on these older posts. If you want to have a discussion, I would prefer to know the identity of the accuser and know that this isn't as I fear: someone just looking for a time-wasting argument.
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