“Therefore, we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13:6‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Jesus tells us, “Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.“ Matthew‬ ‭10:28‬.‬ Many Christians today are still more focused on man’s opinion than what God thinks about them. I remember when I first met God and me and my wife would go out for dinner, it would feel challenging to pray thanksgiving for the meal we were about to eat. The human body thought, “Oooo no, I do not want to be those weirdos who pray in public. People are going to laugh at us!”. But the mind of Christ said, “I want to give thanks to my Father who provides all things. Hopefully, we can get an opportunity to share the Gospel with someone because they saw us pray”. The fear of man or a focused concern on what people think will lead to people hiding their faith (like placing a lamp under a bowl, Matthew 5:14-16), their behaviours and presentation of themselves to the world will look the same as someone who does not follow Jesus.

When we understand the Scriptures fully, those fears that stop us from demonstrating our faith will be gone. We have come to understand the Holy Spirit helps us, and through Jesus, the One who overcame flesh, we are no longer driven by fear. Instead, we are driven by our love for God and a burning desire to see Him glorified. That love leads to us casting away those fears and boldly proclaiming our love for Jesus, the One who set us free and brought us to the Father. When you read the preceding verses to Matthew 10:28, you will very quickly realise that there is no space for secret Christianity. Knowing in your heart the truth and not changing your outward appearance or behaviour is nonsense. The belief of hiding your faith behind codes or secret messages is just nonsense. What we hear Jesus say to us, we boldly proclaim. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is the ONLY way to get to the Father. There is no other way; it is only through knowing Him.  Jesus tells us to go forth and sin no more, and like the apostles and prophets of old, we must stand and declare the truth. If Christians had faith like Elijah to stand against the powers and principalities of the world and declare they are wrong and to stand and let the hand of God move, it would be a very different world that we live in.

But sadly, most people are still scared of what happens from man compared to God. When I was sharing the Gospel in Kurdistan, being picked up in the night by someone I did not know, to be taken somewhere I had no clue about, and there was nobody to save me, of course, I was scared. But, my love for God overrode that fear. My desire to see a people group come to the Lord brought a joy that overcame any selfish desires to preserve my own life. I chose not to let fear of what man could do to me rule my decisions. I know God wants people to follow Him in Kurdistan, so I boldly proclaimed the whole truth about Jesus and taught the Scriptures. Today there is a seed of born-again Christian taking root in Kurdistan because I chose to let the Lord be my helper, and I did not listen to the fear of man. My fellow Christian, can you stop today and declare that you will no longer let the fear of man drive you? Take the path of boldly declaring your faith without fear of the consequences. The Lord is your helper, and no matter what happens to you, boldly proclaiming the truth, He will sustain and comfort you through it.

Chase your eternal crown of salvation.