I’ve had a few people tell me personally that they really enjoyed reading a previous post of mine called Are You Building Electric Fences For Jesus? Surprisingly (or not) it’s not gotten a lot of comments publicly or any evidence that people have shared it on social networking yet, so I’m not sure if only my friends appreciated it, but I knew when writing it, I would only be briefly skimming the surface of some of the ideas I brought up. I’m not going to start a series on the “spiritual electric fences”, but I definitely had a few come to mind that I thought would make quirky posts on their own, the first one being the “you’ll-answer-to-God-on-Judgment-Day” fence.
To quote directly from that post, allow me to remind the reader,
An electric fence is a barrier that uses electric shock to deter animals or people from crossing a boundary. The voltage of the shock may have effects ranging from uncomfortable, to painful or even lethal. Sometimes I think well meaning Christians try to help God by putting up fences and may not use electricity or barbwire, but instead use fear, judgment, and shame as a way of shocking other people so as to avoid things that WE ourselves have decided need a boundary put around it.
I’m all about holiness, don’t get me wrong! If you just peruse my site, and read other articles I’ve written, you will more than realize that–in fact, so you don’t think I’m lopsided or imbalanced, I recommend It’s All Grace?, and Jesus’ Eyes of Fire among others. Yes, without holiness we will not see the Lord (Heb 12:14). God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil (Eccl 12:14); God has set a day when He will judge the world with justice (Acts 17:31), and we will all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ after we die (2 Cor 5:10, Heb 9:27). These are facts and not at all what I’m disputing.
But I what I am kinda baffled by is the large number of sincere believers who use fear and scare tactics in order to coerce each other in the Body of Christ to keep in line by invoking Judgment Day every time we disagree with each other over some personal conviction, matter of opinion, or decision taken in real life situations.
I’ve stated in my previous ‘electric fence post’, that we ought to work more on inviting others into a deeper relationship with God, which will result in purification and deeper holiness the closer they want to get to Jesus. God doesn’t need OUR help building electric fences to keep dumb sheep from wandering. If we’re teaching them how to walk in the Spirit, then the Holy Spirit, who guides into all truth, will, um, guide them into all truth! The closer one gets to His consuming fire, the more the cares and desires for things in this world pale in comparison and are EASIER to give up.
That being said–but I’m sure will still be misinterpreted by the legalistic fault finders who may come across this article–I’d say one of the most effective scare tactics Christians use on each other is the idea that the particular stance, action or opinion they differ with, will come back to haunt us on the day we stand at the Great White Throne Judgment for our life to be tested by fire by God. I’m not minimizing that God’s character is that of a just Judge, nor am I minimizing future judgment. But I think it’s a really backwards way of motivating God’s people into complicity, because ultimately, fear doesn’t woo the human heart. Affection does.
Jesus Taught With Incentives
I personally recommend never using arguments revolving around answering for things on Judgment Day. I think it’s dangerous doctrine that’s super easy to get way off on, and you start motivating people with fear, which is not God. I see no Biblical evidence that on Judgment Day anyone will be called to answer for losing their club membership or for not doing everything that a fellow pew warmer or mentor told us to do. Nor do I think God will ask any of us our thoughts on that day regarding others we point our bony fingers at in this lifetime. Heck, we’re going to be annoyed to see some people in heaven we’d written off in this lifetime, which ties into how God is a just and righteous judge and his judgments are not the same as ours. We tend to use that in a view like He’s temperamental and forget his…love.
Remember, dear saint, the Bible says the kindness of God leads us towards repentance (Romans 2:4), and godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to life, and leaves no regret (2 Corinthians 7:10). In fact, if I even say the word “bema seat” of Christ, those of you who know what that is (I’ll give you a hint–the judgment seat of Christ), more than likely think of it in a bad light with a bit of dread.
The Word walk is not JUST one of self-denial, but of replacing what was denied with something greater to fulfill us with. Jesus taught us blessed are the pure in heart–why? They’ll be see God! Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness–why? They’ll be filled! Just read the structure and pattern of the entire Beatitudes, found in Matthew 5.
Besides, as mentioned, fear doesn’t ultimately capture the human heart. You can use fear of being left behind at the Rapture to scare people into getting saved before Armageddon. You can use fear of going to hell to try persuading people to accepting Christ–I mean, come on–who knowingly WANTS to go to hell instead of heaven? Whenever most Christians erect the electric fence of a future day of judgment–which, chronologically speaking, is still future for anybody who is capable of reading this–it’s usually to scare, rather than bring confidence or make us look forward to it. Most Christians are conditioned to be scared of it, unfortunately. As my mentor, and author S.J. Hill says in his book Enjoying God, passages such as 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 have been used to provoke individuals to radical obedience. However, what’s overlooked is John’s statement in 1 John 4:16-18. That latter passage says:
By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.(1 John 4:17-18, ESV, emphasis mine)
How can we have confidence on that day if we’re fearful of what’s going to happen? If we think we’re going to stand there and be judged on our own works and what we’ve done or not done, then of course we should be afraid, but thank God–He doesn’t look at us through OUR own righteousness, but he looks at us through the righteousness that is Christ’s–AMEN!
Most of us mistakenly view fearing God as the same thing as being afraid of Him. How on earth could we be intimate with Him if we were afraid of Him? How many children have had deep meaningful relationships with their earthly fathers if they were afraid of them–maybe growing up in abusive situations; afraid that at any given moment the father might fly off the handle and snap? When you’re afraid of a parent, you’re not going to be close to Him. Fear does not produce affection!
I’d also like to point out, in First Corinthians 3, when Paul is talking about our works being tested by fire (v. 10-15), notice it’s about the work we did, not about our personal life or salvation. And God’s motives for testing our works are going to be positive, not negative. Re-read that–his motives, or the way He looks. The word in the Greek for testing has to do with testing for approval. For more detail on that, I suggest Jesus’ Eyes of Fire. His purifying testing is in order to make more valuable, not to find the junk to throw out, but to find the value to keep. He brings His fire to effect a greater purity and usefulness in our lives.
Way too many in the Body of Christ have an imbalanced view and focus on the negative of this, when it’s not something a believer who is going after God with their lives has to worry about. The backslider or wicked rebel, yes. The pure in heart, no!
Questions To Ponder
Does Jesus really deserve an obedience that is based on fear of punishment? Do you live your life based on fear of standing before God on judgment day? If so, why? If not, why not?
In the meantime, here’s another classic podcast with S.J. Hill and Gregg Montella:
Do Happiness and Holiness Mix?
