What Does It Mean to Fear God in the Modern World?

The Paradox of Fear and Love

There is a phrase scattered across the entire landscape of the Bible that violently clashes with modern sensibilities: "The fear of the Lord."

To modern ears, "fearing God" sounds psychologically abusive. We are taught that fear and love are mutually exclusive. We logically conclude: If God is a loving, kind, and graceful Father, why on earth would He demand that we be terrified of Him? Are we supposed to cower in the corner, waiting for a cosmic lightning bolt to strike us every time we make a mistake?

Because of this discomfort, the modern church has aggressively attempted to dilute the phrase. We soften "the fear of the Lord" by defining it simply as "deep respect." We say it just means we are supposed to be "in awe" of God, the way you are in awe of a beautiful mountain range or a sunset.

While "respect" and "awe" are certainly components of it, treating the Fear of God simply as polite reverence completely castrates the biblical text. We are not just called to respect God. We are called to fear Him.

If we want to understand what this actually means—and why Proverbs 9:10 says this fear is the absolute starting point of all human wisdom—we have to redefine exactly what kind of fear the Bible is talking about.

Two Types of Fear

There is a massive difference between the fear of a tyrant and the fear of a Father.

The Fear of the Tyrant: If you live under a dictator, you fear him because you do not know what he will do next. He is capricious, cruel, and completely unpredictable. You obey him purely out of terror of punishment. This is a cowardly, paralyzing fear that destroys your soul. The Bible explicitly says in 1 John 4:18 that "perfect love drives out fear," meaning the fear of punishment has zero place in a Christian's life. Jesus took your punishment on the cross. You never have to be terrified of God’s wrath again.

The Fear of the Father: What, then, is the proper fear? Imagine standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon during a massive thunderstorm. You are not "respecting" the lightning; you are experiencing pure, terrifying awe. You recognize that the power currently on display is infinitely greater than you, and if you act foolishly with it, it will destroy you. Yet, you are completely captivated by its beauty.

Or imagine a child who deeply loves his father. The child sits on the father's lap, completely secure. He knows his father would die to protect him. But because he knows the immense strength and fierce integrity of his dad, the child possesses a holy fear of disappointing him or breaking his heart.

To fear God properly means to be absolutely overwhelmed by the staggering reality of who He is. It is the trembling realization that the Being who spoke billions of galaxies into existence with a single word currently has His eyes fixed on you.

The Fear of God Kills the Fear of Man

Why does God demand this of us? Is it an ego trip? No. God demands we fear Him because it is the only mechanism that protects us from fearing everything else.

Human beings are hardwired to worship, and therefore, we are hardwired to fear whatever we worship. If you do not fear God above all else, you will inevitably fear:

• The Fear of Man: Being absolutely terrified of what people think of you. Obsessing over approval.
• The Fear of the Future: Being paralyzed by economic collapse, political turmoil, or medical diagnoses.
• The Fear of Failure: Being terrified of messing up and losing your status.

The Fear of God is the ultimate antidote to human anxiety. When the absolute heaviest weight in your life—the thing you care about more than your own breath—is the opinion of the Creator of the universe, the opinions of your coworkers become completely weightless.

When you truly fear the God who can raise the dead and command the oceans, you suddenly realize you don't have to be terrified of a bad economy, a hostile boss, or even a cancer diagnosis.

The mathematician Blaise Pascal summarized it perfectly: "If you fear God, you will fear nothing else. But if you do not fear God, you will fear everything else."

The Proximity of Danger

C.S. Lewis captured exactly what the Fear of the Lord feels like in his legendary book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. When the children first hear about Aslan the lion (who represents Jesus), Susan asks if he is a "safe" lion, because she is terrified to meet him.

Mr. Beaver replies with one of the most famous lines in literature: "Safe? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

God is not a tame, domesticated deity that you can put in your pocket and pull out when you need a favor. He is a consuming fire. He is dangerously holy. He demands absolute, unconditional surrender of every atom of your life.

When you read your Bible, you must remember that you are interacting with absolute, unmitigated power. When you pray, you are entering the throne room of the King who will one day judge the living and the dead.

When we lose the Fear of God, our worship becomes shallow, our prayers become flippant, and our obedience becomes optional.

But when we regain that holy fear—when we realize that the terrifying Lion of Judah is also the Lamb who was slain for us—we finally experience true worship. We fall on our faces in trembling awe, totally overwhelmed that a God this powerful could be this profoundly, intimately good to us.