Continuing this series of posts from Logan Leadership's book 'The Discipleship Difference,' today I want to look at chapter 8: "Obedience As the Crux of Discipleship."
As the authors say on p. 126, "Facing our fears, stepping outside our comfort zones, doing what feels unnatural to us - all of these are central to discipleship. All the other tools and methods we use to disciple one another are used toward this end."
They touch on several things in regard to obedience in this chapter, but what really struck me, and what I want to point out, deals with facing our fears.
On p. 128 they talk about "fear not" as being the oft-quoted greeting of angels to humans in the bible. Biblical angels are not the cute little cupids we often see depicted, but are actually quite frightening (apparently). So "fear not" is a necessary greeting. But it doesn't mean "don't feel afraid" - the angel expects that you already do feel quite afraid...
"Fear not" doesn't mean "don't feel afraid." It means "don't let your fear get in the way."
This is so crucial (at least to me). As the authors say, "Facing a challenge despite fear creates a sense of crisis - which is also the opportunity for growth."
So how do we go about doing this? They share a bit of research on p. 131, and note this:
"The technical term for the process being discussed in this chapter is 'exposure.' In order to grow, people need exposure to challenging situations in which they initially feel threatened. The human tendency is to avoid because of fear and anxiety. The solution is not to first try and get over your fear, but to face the challenging situation through prolonged and intense exposure...
Although it seems paradoxical, our fear dissipates by facing what we are afraid of rather than avoiding it.
Well, as I said, there was much more in this chapter dealing with obedience. However, perhaps until we can learn to face our fears, nothing else really matters.
Very insightful stuff here. I think.
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