Tamping Down Fear
Fear is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise. It is used by news organizations with headlines and stories about the latest threats to our lives, culture, and way of life. It is used by politicians to raise money for their campaigns and political parties. It is used by businesses promoting their products. Fear makes us much more vulnerable to manipulation, and thus willing to part with our money, as well as creating unnecessary hostility between people. Let’s look at a few examples.
Research on the news media has long indicated that bad headlines and bad news sell better than reporting on good news. Thus, we repeatedly hear about the threats of climate change, wars, famine, earthquakes, inflation, and AI, along with many others. It is a steady diet of things that easily can produce fear.
Politicians have long relied on fear to get themselves elected and re-elected. Almost every election cycle, Social Security is presented as threatened by the other side. Conservative politicians portray the “radical left” as itching to destroy the country we love, and liberal politicians aim similar invective at conservatives for their supporters’ consumption.
Corporations also rely on fear to market many of their products. The most prominent is that their product is the best and there is danger of disappointment if you purchase another brand. There are also products aimed directly at our fears, such as home security systems, guns, organic foods, filtered water systems, etc. None of these products is necessarily bad, but the sales pitch is often fear-based and intended to entice you to spend money on them.
All of this fearmongering has a corrosive effect on us. It effects the way we raise our children. Fear of child abductions has led to fewer and fewer kids playing outside alone or with other children in yards or parks. It effects the way we interact with other people. The political and cultural wars of the last decade have strained, or even destroyed, relationships between family members and friends. It has led to distrust of our neighbors’ intentions in school board meetings and other public forums.
The question we need to ask ourselves if we are Christians is, why are we so afraid when God says repeatedly in the Scriptures not to be afraid (more than 60 times!)? My standard answer to those who fear for their kids, our country, or just things in everyday life is that God is in control. I have been reading through the Old Testament and just concluded Ezra. Time and time again, the people of Israel and Judah are ruled by kings who do evil. Yet, the Lord is always active behind the scenes. He is in control. It is no different today. As much as politicians, news media, and corporate advertising proclaim imminent danger and disaster, the Lord of the Universe has not ceded his throne. He is still in control and he can be trusted. Many times throughout the Old and New Testament, men and women have been told by the Lord directly or through his prophets this simple statement: Do not be afraid.
The challenge for us, and it may be a daily one, is to believe we have no reason to fear because the Lord is in control. The result can be to tamp down the fears rising within us and experience a life at peace even in the midst of the chaos.
©Jim Musser 2023
