Fearless Disciples on Mission
by Lisa Coleman

What are you afraid of?  What are some things we fear?   Phobialist.com is a website with a listing of the names and descriptions of more than 500 fears that Fredd Culbertson has compiled.  He even sells posters for your walls, I guess so one could conduct a daily assessment perhaps, sort of like a preflight checklist! There are some very odd listings:  Geniophobia which is fear of chins.  Aulophobia is fear of flutes.  My favorite is Phobophobia – fear of phobias.    There are many fears in the world, both real and imagined.  How fitting that the command most frequently repeated in the Word of God is “fear not.”

There is a story about a bus driver who encountered a big hulk of a man boarding his bus.  He was 6’8″ tall, built like a wrestler with arms that hung seemingly down to the ground.  He glared at the driver and told him “Big John doesn’t pay!” and then sat down towards the back of the bus.  The driver, a much smaller man at 5’3″ chose not to argue with Big John.  This happened over and over, Big John simply refused to pay.  The bus driver, angry over Big John’s taking advantage of his size, decided he would prepare himself to stand up to Big John.  He took body building courses, karate, judo and a class on finding your self-esteem over the course of the summer.  The next Monday, Big John entered the bus and again declared, “Big John doesn’t pay!”  Enraged, the bus driver stood up, glared back at Big John, and bellowed, “And why not?!” With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, “Big John has a bus pass.”

Sometimes we are shown just how baseless our fears really are!  Often, I find God’s charge to “fear not” is only clear upon reflection.  Whichever the case, “fear not” is wise counsel.

What compels heroes?  Fearlessness?  In an interview with racing legend Mario Andretti, he was asked what makes a talented race car driver.  One of the greatest risks in sports in that risk faced by those in motorsports. Is it fearlessness, reaction, judgment, or strategy? As the only race car driver to win the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, and the Formula One World Championship, fearlessness, reaction, judgment, and strategy are all talents that Andretti has in abundance.  So, which one is the most important?  Andretti said, “All of the above.” But then he added, “…plus burning desire and confidence.  I say burning desire because of the risk involved.  If you want something so badly, you have a burning desire to do it, then you aren’t distracted by fear or risk or anything else.”

Missionary Oswald Chambers said:  It is the most natural thing in the world to be scared, and the clearest evidence that God’s grace is at work in our hearts is when we do not get into panic.  The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear god you fear everything else.

That adds some perspective for our study of Acts.  After Stephen was murdered, Church persecution broke out in earnest.  Harrowing times to be sure!   Join us Sunday and let’s look more closely at fearless discipleship on mission! 

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If you cannot be with us in person, feel free to download the Bible study materials for your personal use by following one of these links: PowerPoint Slides, PDF File. You can also find the video of this session on our YouTube channel soon after the meeting concludes. And lastly, you could follow this link to download other studies in this series: INpowered Discipleship if you happened to miss one of our prior studies.

Yours in Christ,

Eric Glover   
The Gospels Class     
Brentwood Baptist Church