Human fear is a very deep reality in all of us, and as a result it is habitually affecting our thinking and creating firm prejudices. Because of its habitual nature, we don’t always realize it is what is moving our thoughts. Habits, whether good or bad, become second nature to us, in such a way that our left hand doesn’t know what our right hand is doing.
My concern is currently on how fear affects our vision of evangelization. Many will advocate for various heterodox views or even pastoral approaches that are disordered, but I often suspect it is rooted in fear.
For instance, many might use the old adage “…use words of necessary” when referring to the proclamation of the Gospel. Others might conflate a good witness with a person who does good works. But if fear is behind these views, it could simply be motivated by a fear of coming off as strange to others, or of losing friends, or entering into conflict. Giving our own testimony and stating the Kerygma is necessarily part of evangelization and requires words. We are no longer (if ever) in a culture where the Kerygma is passed down by osmosis.
What of pluralism? Again if the Church isn’t the true Church, all paths are licit to God, then we are free from a responsibility that we fear.
What of the fear of change? Doing this differently can sometimes feel like a condemnation on the ways we did things previously. Perhaps we are afraid to acknowledge the need for change, because we might have to face the consequences of accepting that our inaction or timidity has negatively affected our family, church, and even those who have died. I can’t imagine how difficult this might be for some to grapple with. But what I know makes this easier is navigating this fear with the assurances of God’s mercy who also understands we can only do what we’ve been taught. And now we know, so let’s act.
St. Paul reminds us that we have been given, not a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and competence/self-discipline. All three cast out fear. Love fills us with daring to die or be humiliated for the sake of He who died and was humiliated for us. Power gives us the ability to lean on Him in all our distress. And competencies gives us the wisdom and prudence to act as Christ commanded us: to be missionary disciples.
We need to therefore address fear, shine a light on it, name it, and overcome it. This is impossible without an encounter with our Lord. So let’s return to him, asking for a fresh out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, so that we may be liberated from the same fear that kept the Jews locked in the upper-room, avoiding their great commission.
