Lesson 101. Fear, Guilt, Duty, or Love?

People devise all kinds of ways to invite their acquaintances, loved ones, and relatives to church. And if someone has been persuaded to attend a meeting, we want so much for that person to stay, to repent, and to understand that the church is an ark of salvation guided by Jesus. What, then, should be used as a means of keeping churchgoers in the church?

During the time of the Soviet Union, communist ideology sowed the seeds of atheism. People were taught that there was no God and that faith in Him was a relic of past centuries or a fairy tale for old women. But that godless regime collapsed, and the long-awaited freedom of religion took its place. The iron curtain of communist ideology fell. Everyone received the opportunity to know God personally and make an individual choice.

Missionaries from all over the world poured into the country that had opened its doors to the gospel. All the foundations of the “wonderful future” collapsed, creating an atmosphere of spiritual emptiness. And, as we know, a vacuum draws into itself everything that has some substance. A miracle took place: an evangelistic campaign was held in the very heart of Soviet atheism, in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. A nation of unbelievers was introduced to the God Who had not been known in that country. Bibles were given to people in the streets, Christian books were distributed, and people were invited to spiritual programs. And the people came. Sports arenas were filled with those who desired to hear the good news. The time for great changes had come, and those changes took place. In one way or another, every person made a choice. Those who came to know God decided to unite their lives with Him, entered into covenant with Him, and began sharing the good news with all their neighbors. I, too, was caught up in this wave of enlightenment and discovered many things for myself. To this day, I am so grateful to God that He found me and drew me to Himself at that very time.

But the days pass, one generation takes the place of another, and with them the conditions of life change and new opportunities arise.

What was effective about thirty years ago no longer has the same power today. Yet people must be saved; they need to be kept. There is still so much to be done! I look at the world, at how rapidly it is developing and sinking into Christian atheism, and I understand that certain steps must be taken.

However, new times also open new opportunities that once could not even have been imagined. Today everyone has the right to preach openly about anything he desires and to share everything he considers right. Whatever you say, you will always find an audience willing to listen. It seems that our future belongs to bloggers, who are now fighting to attract more subscribers and feeding on the likes of their viewers. This is a strange paradox of our time: the more foolish the information or the presenter, the more attention it attracts. While truth is changing its shoes to step into new opportunities, falsehood quickly adapts to the present situation and flies around the world at cosmic speed.

But God’s people live by the concepts of past years and are very reluctant to rise and embrace change. Tradition is not the best means of attracting attention and keeping a person. Once it has become established in the heart, it sets the direction of movement like railroad tracks, and it can be difficult to change anything. Then I begin doing what I do not understand simply because that is how I was taught and what everyone else does.

Yet the religious world has very effective methods of attracting and retaining people—methods that make it possible to manipulate a person’s conscience and persuade him to act as a leader desires.

Fear paralyzes a person’s will, and in that condition he is ready to accept any insane idea that offers even the slightest hope of avoiding hardship, destruction, or crisis. The enemy of souls proposes solutions to problems that contradict common sense, depriving people of freedom and the right to choose. But fear does not save a person from danger. Instead, it drives him to make hasty decisions without consulting reason, guided by the instinct of self-preservation. When understanding finally comes, deceived souls realize that they have gone very far and no longer know how to escape the dead end in which they find themselves.

Love casts out fear. It opens boundless prospects for other approaches and ways of looking at the solution of problems. Love is reasonable and is not led by emotions. Love has a deep relationship with God, Who intervenes and delivers in times of danger. Love teaches me to trust the Lord in every crisis and points to the possibility of deliverance from all fear. It even neutralizes the fear of death by offering a better future.

Guilt works somewhat more effectively than fear. It convinces me that I am a sinner under the curse of the law, which has sentenced me to death. Many people—and children as well—can quickly be made to do or refrain from doing certain things by being given to understand that otherwise they will be guilty before the law or before God. Awareness of my guilt is good in itself and should lead me to repentance, to a desire to change my life and bring it into harmony with God’s requirements. But if I make guilt the guiding principle of my life, happiness will leave me forever. It is difficult to live under the burden of guilt. A believer lives in fear of making a mistake and sees the punishing hand of the law in everything. This feeling, which serves as a means of manipulating the human will, distorts the character of the loving God. With what sorrow the Lord receives His children who live in perpetual repentance, seeing themselves as exceptional sinners who deserve death and are pleading for mercy. “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!” How does Eternal Love hear such an appeal? The merciful Father loves to forgive and justify His children. It pleases Him to see those who understand the power of His love and live in its light, experiencing continual joy and gratitude for God’s mercy and goodness.

Love frees me from the burden of guilt; it gives that burden to Jesus and rejoices in freedom. The believer is under God’s grace. He lives in obedience to His law and therefore is no longer a slave to sin. Jesus took the burden of my guilt upon Himself and drank that bitter cup so that I might be free.

But there is a very effective means of manipulating the decisions of the most advanced Christians: a sense of duty. A very high price has been paid for me, and I need to do something to repay that debt in some way. In addition, I must justify God’s confidence in me.

Unfortunately, the most sincere children of God fall into this trap—those who are ready to give even their lives for the faith and for their dear Lord. When they hear that they are indebted to God, they joyfully begin to labor in order to work off that debt. They may even neglect the principles of health and their personal comfort, if only they can do everything correctly, as they believe God expects. “I must” becomes the most powerful driving force behind my convictions, and because of this motto of my life, I see a path that I myself am making narrower. I choose asceticism so that no one will hinder me from fulfilling my duty.

But the hour comes when I collapse from exhaustion. I can no longer do anything, and then I no longer want to do anything. Disappointment sets in. I am simply incapable of carrying this burden of perpetual duty. I want to rest and do nothing. I am tired of everything, I feel miserable, and I have lost interest in everything.

Love solves the problem of duty; it fills the mind with the meaning of a life of love. Love guarantees my freedom from a sense of duty.

1. What did you understand from this lesson?

2. Share how you came to Jesus.

3. Why should we not draw people to God by means of fear, guilt, and duty?

4. What do you think guarantees our freedom and solves our problems?

5. What method did Christ use when He drew you to Himself?

6. Can these motivating feelings in ministry be classified as salvation by works?

7. Please read 1 Timothy 1:5; 1 John 3:11; James 2:12; 2 Corinthians 3:17; and 1 John 4:18 in the light of this lesson.