What I'm about to say I can't prove, and furthermore it's not my business anyway. I'm of the opinion that much of contemporary American Christianity does not evidence the fear of God. "Conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear," the Bible tells us creatures of a day, but I don't see it. (1Peter 1:17)
The word for "fear" is used in a variety of ways throughout the Bible. At one extreme is the feeling you get when something threatens you. It's bigger than you are, more powerful, more cunning than you are and it's coming to get you. At the other extreme is a similar feeling. Something bigger, more powerful and knowing is coming at you but it's coming to help you, not to harm you. That is God, for us, not against us (Romans 8:31). To that our reaction is Wow! Shut-me-up silence. Awe. Reverence. That is "the fear of the Lord."
It's not for me to judge others. It is for me to take off my shoes and know that I am on holy ground (Exodus 3:5)
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