Posted on 02/04/2014 10:04:51 AM PST by NYer
In Sunday’s Mass (Feast of the Presentation) there was an excerpt from the Letter to the Hebrews which describes our most basic and primal fear. The Hebrews text both names it and describes it as being the very source of our bondage: The Fear of Death
But I am not convinced that many of us understand the phrase as richly as possible, for “death” here is as much an allegory as referring to the actual and singular event of our passage from this world. In order to unlock the secret of the text I want to suggest to you an interpretation of the text that will allow its powerful diagnosis to have a wider and deeper effect.
Consider then this text from Hebrews:
Since the children have flesh and blood, [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Heb 2:14-15)
Now this passage is clear enough that the first origin of our bondage to sin is the devil. But it also teaches that the devil’s hold on us is the “fear of death.” This is what he exploits to keep us in bondage.
When I explore this teaching with people I find that it is difficult for many to understand it at first. For many, especially the young, death is rather theoretical. This is especially so today when medicine has so successfully pushed back the boundary of sudden death. Every now and then something may shake us out of our complacency about death (perhaps a brush with death) but as a general rule the fear of death is not something that seems to dominate the thoughts of many. So what is meant by the “fear of death” and how does it hold us in bondage?
Well, what if we were to replace the word “death” with “diminishment”? To be sure, this is an adaption of the text. The Greek text (φόβῳ θανάτου – phobo thanatou) is translated as “fear of death.” And yet, understanding death here also as “diminishment” can help us to see what this text is getting at in a wider sense. It doesn’t take long to realize that each diminishment we experience is a kind of “little death.” Diminishments make us feel smaller, less powerful, less glorious.
What are some examples of diminishments we might experience? At one level, a diminishment is anything that makes us feel less adequate than others. Maybe we think others are smarter, or more popular. Perhaps we do not feel handsome enough, pretty enough, we’re too tall, too short, too fat, wrong color hair. Maybe we hate that others are richer, more powerful, better spoken, better looking. Maybe we are older and wish we were younger and stronger, thinner and more energetic again. Maybe we are younger and wish were older, wiser, richer and more settled. Maybe we feel diminished because we think others have a better marriage, nicer home, better kids, or live in a better neighborhood. Maybe we compare ourselves to a brother or sister who did better financially or socially than we did.
Perhaps you can see how the fear of diminishment (the fear that we don’t compare well to others) sets up a thousand sins. It plugs right into envy and jealousy. Pride comes along for the ride too since we seek to compensate our fear of inadequacy by finding people whom we feel superior to. We thus indulge our pride or we seek to build up our ego in unhealthy ways. Perhaps we run to the cosmetic surgeon or torture ourselves with unhealthy diets. Perhaps we ignore our own gifts and try to be someone we really are not. Perhaps we spend money we really don’t have trying to impress people so we feel less adequate.
And think of the countless sins we commit trying to be popular and fit in. Young people, and older ones too, give in to peer pressure and do sometimes terrible things. Young people will join gangs, use drugs, skip school, have sex before marriage, pierce and tattoo their bodies, use foul language, gossip etc. Adults too have many of these things on their list. All these things in a quest to be popular and to fit in. And fitting in is about not feeling diminished. And diminishment is about the fear of death because every experience of diminishment is like a mini death.
Advertisers too know how to exploit the fear of death (diminishment) in effectively marketing their product. I remember studying this in the Business School at George Mason University. What advertisers do is to exploit our fear of diminishment. The logic goes something like this: you are not pretty enough, happy enough, adequate enough, comfortable enough, you don’t look young enough, you have some chronic illness (depression, asthma, E. D. diabetes), etc. So use our product and you will be adequate again, you won’t be so pathetic, incomplete and basically diminished. If you drink this beer you’ll be happy, have good times and friends will surround you. If you use this toothpaste or soap or cosmetics, beautiful people will be around you and sex will be more available to you. If you drive this car people will turn their heads and so impressed with you. Message: you are not adequate now, you do not measure up, you are not perfect (you are diminished) but our product will get you there! You will be younger, happier, healthier and more alive.
Perhaps you can see how all these advertising appeals plug into greed, pride, materialism, worldliness, and the lie that these things will actually solve our problem. They will not. In fact appeals like this actually feed our fear of diminishment and death even more because they feed the notion that we have to measure up to all these false or unrealistic standards.
It is my hope that you can see how very deep this drive is and how it enslaves us in countless ways.
This demon (fear of death, fear of diminishment) has to be named. Once named and brought to the light we must learn its moves and begin to rebuke it in the name of a Jesus. As we start to recognize and name the thought patterns that emerge from this most primal of fears we can gradually, by God’s grace, replace this distorted and “stinking thinking” with proper, sober and humble thinking. A thinking rooted in God’s love for us and the availability of his grace and mercy.
The text from Hebrews above is very clear to say that this deep and highly negative drive is an essential way in which Satan keeps us in bondage. The same text says that Jesus Christ died to save us and free us from this bondage. Allow the Lord to give you a penetrating and sober vision of this deep drive, this deep fear of diminishment and death. Allow the light of God’s grace and word to both expose and heal this deepest of wounds.
Ping!
bm
Sohhhhhh.....
We should fear death and not look forward to being held in the everlasting arms of our lord?
Get outta here...
(Not directed at the OP)
*
I read it differently, but perhaps I am missing something.
...the fear of diminishment [death]...sets up a thousand sins.
Misleading title.
Guess I’ll break Freeper tradition and read the full article....
God is Love... Perfect Love casts out fear....
I could never fear God as our mutual Love has no room for fear.
End of Story.....
Very misleading title...
“[Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Heb 2:14-15)”
Sounds to me like Jesus came to free our fear of death, not enhance it.... Satan wants us to fear death.
Matthew 10:28
Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
John 14:26
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
Having died already and returned to my physical body, I not only have no fear of death, but realize that in many ways it created the illusion of separation from God who is with us. Having experienced that perfect Love, I did not want to return here.
So it’s death by a thousand cuts ....it seems like.
Thankfully I don’t suffer from the maladies in the article.
As I don’t violate natural law and generally am oblivious to others opinions, I couldn’t care less what anyone thinks about me, except for those I love.
I also have zero envy. I want nothing anyone else has but, I might admire aspects of their life. Truth is, their lives aren’t any better than mine except for how they respond to life challenges and in general their disposition.
There really is no reason to feel awful in ‘Merica.
We live in a great land, amongst the greatest people on earth and if we would make ourselves useful and valuable to others we might find we are given mercy or opportunity.
That is; Do more than anyone else would, making. yourself an invaluable resource and opportunity will be handed to you.
As for death, what have we to fear of death?
It’s inevitable.
Live and have a good life of God’s luv.
what denomination are you?
IOW:TL,DR....
Ah, the inevitable question.
What difference does it make?
Just as perfect Love casts out fear, fear casts out perfect Love. I will always choose Love over any other option.
That is the only way to follow the two most important commandments that Jesus gave us.
I would like to see the article reconciled with the following scripture.
One of my favorite scriptures is 1 John 4:
God Is Love
7 Beloved, et us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
17 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.
18 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.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: (whoever loves God must also love his brother.
“what denomination are you?”
Christian
Nonsense, nonbelievers fear death because they know not salvation. To them death and the second death are the same thing, they know of nothing else. Old testament believers knew of heaven and the prophesies about the coming of the Savior. They needed not fear death.
To substitute the word “diminishment” for death is imbecilic. “DEATH” (second death) is SERIOUS business. The rescuing of believers from it, is the basic foundation of Christianity.
Anyone listening to the musings of this FOOL, should stop doing so and read their bible, whatever translation, because no matter the translation, it will have 7 x 70 (that means “innumerable”) times more truth than this ridiculous pronouncement.
I have lived my entire life expecting death and understanding it as an inevitable part of earthly life.
Its graduation day.
I’ve seen a lot of my relatives make the crossing and I know my turn is coming. The process can be messy but its how it works.
I accepted Christ early in my life and while I have a normal fear of physical pain, and I fear leaving my personal affairs in a mess, dying I do not fear. I have always understood it as a step along the way. I have always believed that, if God has granted me eternal life, I already have it.
it is a perfectly valid question, going to the persons point of view and state of mind.
Why don’t you answer the question?
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