Wisdom And Fear

Last updated on: March 8, 2021 at 4:07 am by Henry Karlson

Wisdom And Fear 2021-03-08T04:07:26-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Matryx: No Fear / pixabay

Jesus told us not to be afraid. We should not look out to the world in fear; we should not be overly worried about those who unjustly threaten to do us some harm if we don’t follow them in their wicked ways, because, though we might indeed suffer, they are limited in what they can do to us and eventually their power will come to an end But he also told us to fear the one who can destroy our soul: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28 RSV). Who is it that threatens our soul? We are. So long as we become attached to ourselves, to our particular wants and desires apart from the dictates of God, we turn away from God, from grace, and find ourselves perishing in our sins.

God loves us and wants to give us everything, that is, the kingdom of God. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk. 12:32 RSV). And so, when we find ourselves blessed by Jesus, when we are given his peace, we find ourselves experiencing the kingdom of God; and because we experience the kingdom of God, we find all fear is taken away from us. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (Jn. 14:27 RSV). The blessings come as we overcome ourselves, and so the more we die to the self, the more we find ourselves experiencing the vitality of the kingdom of God and so find all fear taken away from us.

We should not be afraid. But that does not mean we should be foolish. We are to be wise as serpents (cf. Matt. 10:16). We should be concerned with what we do, making sure what we do is right and just. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise” (Eph. 5:15 RSV). Acting out of wisdom, doing what wisdom suggests us to do, does not mean we are afraid. It means we love justice and will act according to its dictates, which means, looking after our own welfare, but also the welfare of our neighbor, so that we do not take unnecessary and foolish risks. “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good life let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom” (Jas. 3:13 RSV).

Those who are wise know they do not have to pretend to be brave in front of others. They do not have to show off, risking their lives to prove they are not cowards. Acting wisely, taking care of our lives, and the lives of others is not an act of fear, but rather, an act of love, and love banishes fear. We are not to be afraid, but we are not to be reckless. Jesus himself was known to hide from those seeking him and his death; he acted in wisdom, making sure that he was not taken in by the authorities before the proper time. He was not afraid, but he also was not foolish.

We are not to be afraid, but we are not to be nonchalant and risk our lives, because our lives are not our own. We belong to God—and to each other – and what we do should be done to honor God and each other. We should act in such a way as to take care of our neighbor; if showing off and acting bravely puts others into needless risks, we show ourselves to be foolish, and far from the bravery God intends us to have. For really, it is such actions which show we are afraid, afraid of what others think concerning us; by trying to act fearless, we prove we are the ones with irrational fear.

Abba Nisterus the Great understood this; he was not afraid, for he walked with God and knew God was with him. But he also knew that in his walk with God, he should not act out of vainglory:

Abba Nisterus the Great was walking in the desert with a brother. They saw a dragon and they ran away. The brother said to him, ‘Were you frightened too, Father?’ The old man said to him, ‘I am not afraid, my child, but it is better for me to flee, so as not to have to flee from the spirit of vain-glory.’[1]

Those who seek the recognition of others fear what others think of them. For the sake of vainglory, they will do foolish things, because they are afraid that others will think less of them if they do not. But those who have seen through vainglory, those who are not concerned about their reputation, that is, those who act with wisdom, might act in such a way as if they were afraid, such as we see in the story of Nisterus who ran away from a “dragon.” Nisterus knew he should not put on the appearance of bravery and foolishly perish, for then he would have been negligent in taking care of the talent which God had given to him, that is, his life.

One does not have to show off to prove one is not afraid of death; one does not have to do extreme actions to prove one’s bravery. Those who would decry the simple promptings of wisdom and call actions done out of wisdom, cowardly, only project their own fear upon others. They do this to hide their own fear from themselves. They are afraid of appearing to be afraid. Thus, those who mock people for wearing masks during a pandemic as being afraid only prove they are the ones who are afraid, while those who follow wisdom will wear a mask, knowing it is just and right to do so.

Truly, we should not be afraid. While we should not be afraid of death, we should not hasten it foolishly. We are to be stewards of the life which we have been given, to take care of it and not recklessly throw it away. We must not risk our lives to prove we are not afraid. We must engage wisdom and in doing so, show we are concerned not just about ourselves, but about the welfare of others as well. If we are reckless in our actions, we risk not only our own lives but the lives of others, and if others dies through our own actions, directly or indirectly, we will be held accountable for those deaths. Vainglory makes us act in a way which we think will make us look great to others, but it will also have us act in poorly, ignoring the prompting of wisdom, and so it will lead us astray. Eventually whatever repute we might have gained will be lost, as fame is fleeting, but the consequences of our actions will stay with us throughout the rest of our lives (and follow us to the afterlife, when we shall be judged for what we have done).

[1] The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Trans. Benedicta Ward (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1984), 154 [Nisterus Sayings 1]

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook.
If you liked what you read, please consider sharing it with your friends and family!

Desert Monks

Fear

Sayings of the Desert Fathers

Wisdom

Previous Post

March 7, 2021

Veneration Of The Holy Cross

Next Post

March 9, 2021 Lift Up The Voices Of Women

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz