Fear as a Motivator

2:12 work out your salvation with fear and trembling

I often hear that it is wrong to use fear as a motivator. "People shouldn’t be motivated by fear but by love and thankfulness!" Well, if ever there was a time for Paul to have said that, this would have been it. The self-sacrificial work of Christ certainly calls for both love and gratitude. And yet Paul doesn’t say, "Work out your salvation with love and gratitude." He says, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling."

The real question is not whether fear is a legitimate motivator but whether there is truly something to be afraid of. No one squeals when they hear parents say to their toddlers, "Now don’t walk out in the street or you might get hit by a car!" Everyone agrees that in that case fear is a legitimate motivator. What’s the difference? It’s not really fear that they disapprove of. It’s fear of God , it is fear of His judgment that they find so repugnant.

The question then comes to this: Is there a hell? Is there a place of eternal torment that God has created in order to punish sinners? If there isn’t, of course, then using the concept of hell to motivate people is pure manipulation (on a par with "You better watch out, you better not pout, you better not cry, I’m telling you why: Santa Claus is coming to town!"). But if there is a hell, there is nothing unhealthy about fearing the One who can send you there. In fact, it would be insanity to not fear Him.

Once a person hears about the doctrine of hell, it is impossible to forget (this is one sign that it’s true). You can learn a lot about religious doctrines and forget it (many of us seminary graduates have forgotten most of what we learned there). And yet no one ever forgets about the doctrine of hell, even though for many people there is nothing in the world that they would rather forget than the doctrine of hell. It haunts them. It bothers them. They are trying desperately to not think about it. And so, when someone comes along who reminds them of the doctrine of hell, they react strongly. This, I believe, is what is going on in most cases where people object to fear being used as a motivator. It is because you have raised the issue of fearing God. People who object to fear as a motivator in this way are really attacking the doctrine of God as a righteous judge who punishes sin.

O Lord, I love to fear You. I don’t reject You as my judge but readily acknowledge that You are the One who sits in judgment over all men. And I don’t dispute Your right to condemn sinners to eternal torment. Indeed, I admit that I myself deserve to be sent to the lake of fire. But I praise You, O God, that through Christ You have shown Your grace to me. I praise You that You have set me apart for mercy and not for wrath. By Your grace I will praise You as long as I live. And Lord, in light of man’s revulsion toward the concept of hell, help me not to shrink back from lovingly telling others about the judgment to come.