Fear 3

Today I'm reading 1 John 4:17-19. "This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us."

I love the scene in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" where Charlie tries to get advice from Lucy about his fears. She tries to narrow down exactly what his fear is by reciting a list of phobias, until she gets to 'pantaphobia' - the fear of everything. "That's it!!" exclaims Charlie Brown. (Watch it here http://bit.ly/ac5p2j).

The Greek word for fear used in the New Testament is ‘phobos’ from which we get our English word “phobia.” I started to read an on-line list of fears that have been classified as phobias. I didn’t even get through the ‘A’s. Here’s a partial list:

Ablutophobia- Fear of washing or bathing.

Acarophobia- Fear of itching or of the insects that cause itching.

Acerophobia- Fear of sourness.

Achluophobia- Fear of darkness.

Acousticophobia- Fear of noise.

Acrophobia- Fear of heights.

Aerophobia- Fear of drafts, air swallowing, or airborne noxious substances.

Aeroacrophobia- Fear of open high places.

Aeronausiphobia- Fear of vomiting secondary to airsickness.

Agateophobia- Fear of insanity.

Agliophobia- Fear of pain.

Agoraphobia- Fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places like markets. Fear of leaving a safe place.

Agraphobia- Fear of sexual abuse.

Agrizoophobia- Fear of wild animals.

Agyrophobia- Fear of streets or crossing the street.

Aichmophobia- Fear of needles or pointed objects.

Ailurophobia- Fear of cats.

Albuminurophobia- Fear of kidney disease.

Alektorophobia- Fear of chickens.

Algophobia- Fear of pain.

Alliumphobia- Fear of garlic.

Allodoxaphobia- Fear of opinions.

Fear of chickens!? Who knew? I think the point is you can turn anything into a phobia!

Often our fears are related to a bad experience from our past. I may have swinophobia - a fear of pigs - because once while in the sow barn at my grandfather's farm my older brother dangled me by my ankles over a trap door in the barn floor where feed was shoved down to the pigs, and these weren't cute little piggies but huge, hungry, slobbering 600 lb. hogs. I was sure he was going to drop me and the hogs would have torn me to pieces. Of course now I relish every piece of bacon I consume. ( I wonder what a fear of brothers would be called?)

John says 'perfect love casts out fear'. I know I can't love perfectly. I can't drive the fears out of someone else. At one point in my life I thought I could; but I couldn't. I can't even drive them out of myself. So you can't do it for someone else. Only Christ can do that. His love is the only perfect love out there - so don't look to another person to do it for you, either. It's between you and the Lord. Let his love be the motivating force that enables you to face your fears head on. It's the only power that can.

Jeff