IN 1963, STANLEY MILGRAM began his quest to understand the factors that lead people to obey the orders given by people in authority. He designed a study in which he could observe the extent to which a person who presented himself as an authority would be able to produce obedience, even to the extent of leading people to cause harm to others. Milgram’s interest stemmed in part from his desire to understand how a powerful person—in particular the German dictator Adolf Hitler who ordered the killing of millions of people—could produce obedience.
His studies and conclusions (which spawned other studies with enlightening results) were instrumental in my decision to study social psychology, and people in general. For those who want to read about it in more depth, follow this link. It will be time well spent.
Whatever job title I have held over my career years, and there's been an array, I have found Milgram’s work to be indispensable. In every city, in every position, in every corporate culture, Milgram's findings and conclusions proved helpful. Without further commentary, I will just say that Milgram’s work produced significant results, and, unfortunately, I found it accurately portrays a large share of human interaction. My experiential learning needs no further investigation!
One need only look at what peer pressure to conform to beliefs and norms produce in our nation today. Leaders at ALL levels in governments, corporations, schools, and other institutions regularly use their authority to coerce (bully) people in order to subordinate them.
The fear of losing one’s livelihood—or other personally treasured items (even their life)—is most intimidating. And leaders rationalize what they do; it’s a type of ends justifies the means, though no leader would admit their actions were intended that way. They would reframe the situation to indite the powerless, and then double down on their decision to show their decisiveness and resolve. An example order in it's rawest form might sound like: "If you can't follow my instructions, fear my response." No one except a gangster would say anything like that these days (maybe), but that's the way it is to be interpreted. Everyone of us understands, and must respond in some way.
It's a safe bet that people who feel they must control the actions of others are not in control of themselves. In a sense, they are out of control. They instinctively know it, and that causes them to be afraid. They become locked in a pattern they cannot of themselves escape.
All this bad behavior is born of fears—definitely not love. When we act out of fear, we cannot act out of love. The two are mutually exclusive actions and attitudes.
I am suggesting that fear, not hate, at least the fear of interceding for, helping, standing up for fellow humans in times of need, is the opposite of love. And there is a good case for that assumption throughout the Bible.
Think on how many different kinds of fears have been born out of the COVID19 pandemic alone. And we've been systematically programmed to fear over the past two years by news media, government, lack of medical leadership, and for the most part we completely changed our life routines.
This has led to a rise in crime, rage, including murderous road rage, and hoarding of everyday household items has become commonplace. Fear has led to what I call civil incivility in the streets and workplaces, and an increase in divorces. Families and friends have even split over disagreements and rogue information about vaccines and wearing masks.
Fear makes us all behave badly. No wonder that, to God, fear is particularly onerous. In Revelation 21:8, fearful people are the first on the list to be cast into the lake of fire.
So what should we do? No one made it clearer than John.
I John 4:17, 18:
17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
John brings to us a challenging definition of love. Humans use “love” for all sorts of expressions. We speak of how much we “love” our favorite restaurant, or a beautiful Fall afternoon, and then how much we “love” our spouse (and don’t forget that heart emoji on Facebook).
But this isn’t the way Jesus loved. His love was bold, active, and extravagant. Fearless. And as John plainly tells us, “In this world we are like Jesus.” Sobering, isn’t it? We must surely internalize this and find a different way to categorize and talk about “love.”
John chose the Greek term, “agape” to define what he meant by “love.” But we still don’t understand that term today. People often insert the word, “holy” in front of love to signal they are talking about love of a higher order. But mostly we just keep talking around the subject.
We need examples today that say, "That's love!". That’s why John points to Jesus and what he did. To move beyond a conceptual definition of love to a “where the frost meets the pumpkin” kind.
Please don’t miss the story Jesus told of a man beaten and robbed and left for dead. It is far and away more than a story about a Samaritan who helped another in need, while a couple of fearful others passed by. It is the story of life we see every day on this planet. The message strikes at the heart of the reason each of us is here: to help our "neighbor" or fellow human whom we see in the best way we can. Fearlessly.
Love also looks like that time Jesus invited a despised tax collector to be his disciple. Love looks like that time Jesus conversed with the Samaritan woman of questionable reputation at the well. Love looks like that time Jesus saved his disciples lives by speaking peace to a raging storm. Love looks like that time Jesus told the parents of a dead little girl to not fear but to believe, after which he raised her back to life. Love looks like that time Jesus ordered 1000 demons out of a man who’d run around naked in a graveyard for years. And yes, it looks like a shameful and agonizing death on a cross.
There is no fear in love. Jesus entered situations characterized by fear and anxiety. Because his presence was/is love, the most powerful thing there is, fear and anxiety simply vanished. And the Holy Spirit will guide us in that power today.
The journey to a life of love can be described in many ways. I believe that chief among them would be the process from being a person of “fear” to a person of kindness and “love.”
So I ask you, does your presence cause anxiety or unease or fear? Or does your presence have a quality of peace that not only communicates it is well with your soul, but that everything is going to be ok for others too?
Jesus is the power of love in the face of fear. To the extent you and I abide in Jesus, WE become the power of love in the face of fear. To the extent we don’t, we are part of the problem.
©️ Copyright 2020; revised 2021; MyPericope.com
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