Book Review: When People Are Big and God is Small (Edward T. Welch)
If you grew up in the Church, you probably heard sermons or discussions about the “fear of man.” But what does this actually mean? Like so many phrases in Christian subculture, it can potentially lose its meaning over time. In this book, Edward T. Welch attempts to provide Christians with a definition of the fear of man, an understanding of its impact on us, and a strategy for overcoming it.
Welch summarizes the fear of man like this: “We replace God with people. Instead of a biblically guided fear of the Lord, we fear others.” Fear, Welch explains, includes being afraid of someone, but it also extends to awe, worship, and trust. Essentially, when we fear people more than God, we are making idols out of people and their perceptions of ourselves. Of course, we know this is not a path that leads to life, but it is hard to maintain that ideal when the rubber meets the road in life. It is hard to fear God when it might lead to a less successful career, unpopularity, or conflict. For these reasons, Welch carefully describes the reasons we fear men: 1. People might expose and humiliate us, 2. People might ridicule and reject us, and 3. People might attack, threaten, or oppress us. While all of these fears are legitimate, Welch points out that they all fundamentally see people as bigger than God.
The answer? The gospel. People might try to expose us to humiliate us, but God brings us into the light to cleanse us. People might try to ridicule us to exclude us, but God embraces us to include us. People might try to threaten us to keep us silent, but God empowers us to proclaim the good news.
In the second half of the book, Welch explains how we overcome the fear of others. He says, “The first task in escaping the fear of man is to know that God is awesome and glorious, not other people. The Bible is full of references to the glory and majesty of God, but we can not rightly understand God’s power unless we come to the Father through Jesus. We fear the Lord not as his enemies, but as his children through adoption. Jesus is our example who feared the Father more than man. Jesus submits to the Father, obeys the Father, worships the Father, relies on the Father, trusts in the Father, and hopes in the Father. As we grow in Christlikeness by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will also grow in the fear of the Lord. We will use the truth found in Scripture to recognize our needs, both spiritual and physical, and trust God, our Father, to provide for them. The gospel frees us to delight in God and love, rather than fear, the people around us.
When People Are Big and God Is Small is a helpful book for all Christians seeking to develop an understanding of the fear of the Lord and how that fear frees them from the fear of man. We recommend that anyone at The Paradox Church read this book if they want to understand why they fear people more than God, overcome the fear of man, and know the fear of the Lord.