The “Fear Of Man”…A Self-Check

“The fear of man bringeth a snare (trap)” (Prov. 29:25).

Below you will find a list of questions that will help you assess your “fear of man” quotient. Ask God to speak to you as you ponder and answer these questions honestly.

• Are you obsessed with the approval of others?
• Do you overstate your views in order to gain favor with men?
• Do you understate your positions in order to gain the approval of others?
• Are you afraid to confront sin because of possible negative outcomes?
• Are you silent in opportunities to speak up for a just cause?
• Does your audience dictate the slant that you take on an issue?
• Do you tolerate malicious slander by letting it slide because you are afraid of the consequences if you speak out?
• Do you say negative, or harmful, things about people because you know the people you are speaking to hold those negative opinions?
• Are you more concerned about what fallible men think of you than what Almighty God thinks about you?
• Do you feel a knot in your stomach every time someone disagrees with you?
• Is your appreciation of people based upon their approval of you?
• Are you in bondage to the expectations of your friends? Your “network”? Your alma mater?
• Does your dread of “being found out” keep you from confessing your sins to a trusted friend who could help you?
• Are you more fearful of what you stand to lose by telling the truth, or the loss of your self-respect that comes by telling a lie?
• Do you find it difficult to be corrected?
• Are you devastated by rejection?
• Are you afraid to discipline your children properly because you have an inordinate desire for their approval?
• Do you discipline your children severely because of the way that they make you look in the eyes of your peers?
• Do you overlook mis-statements of truth and exaggerations because you are afraid of conflict?
• Do you repeat unkind, unnecessary, and untrue things about others to curry favor with the people you are associating with?
• Does your insecurity lead you to criticize others?
• Do you have to have the “last word” even when your opinion is unrequested?
• Is it okay with you if your friends ostracize you because you choose to honor God?
• Do you find it acceptable it if people don’t like you, but God does?
• Have you ever felt a strong prompting to witness to someone, but found yourself bound by fear of potential denunciation?
• Are you obsessed with having the right clothes, the right hair, the right music, the right car, or the right house?
• Are you forever chasing fads because you want to be “with it”?
• What is more important to you, your “social image” or your identity in Christ?
• When you see a friend wandering off into moral chaos, are you reluctant to speak out for fear of being scorned?
• Do you lie to protect your image, position, or status?
• Are you easily embarrassed?
• Are you intimated by people that have stronger convictions than you?
• Are you critical of people who have less stringent convictions than you?
• Whose reputation is more important: yours or God’s?

The “Fear of God” is the only antidote for the fear of man. “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps. 27:1).  James Foster exhorts, “Cultivate a supreme reverence for God. These two—fear of man and fear of God—are absolutely inconsistent, and cannot subsist together.”

Harold Vaughan
September 2015

Resources:

“The Fear of Man”—Blog Article by Harold Vaughan

“The Fear of Man”—Audio Message by Bill McLeod….CLICK HERE and then select Bill McLeod from the Select a Speaker drop-down list on the right.

“The Fear of Man”—Video Message by Del Fehsenfeld