I’ve been amazed, in the aftermath of the shocking massacre on police officers in Dallas, how many people are speaking openly about their feelings. On social media, in letters to the editor and in general conversation we hear people saying, “We’re not as safe today as yesterday …” Some are surprised by their own reactions, even considering means for self-protection they have never before considered. It’s still difficult to analyze the mood of the country, though. Is it anger, frustration, racial tension, or fear?

I suggest that fear is at the core of the problem. Contrary to cynics who mock the Scriptures, the Bible gives us clear answers to vital questions that social science is still debating. According the story in Genesis, there was a time when humans were not afraid. They were secure in the shared life of God himself. However when they chose to trust another source rather than him, they hid, and confessed that it was because of fear.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (Gen. 3:8-10)

Being descendants of that first pair, all of us tend to default to the same fear. In one way or another, sometimes subtle yet always there, it underlies our every thought, motive and action. It affects our view of perceived threat to significance, security or survival. It is the motivation behind our hiding. Like Adam and Eve who weren’t choosy in picking trees, we will grasp at anything that might offer some safety from exposure.

We hide behind our race, hoping to find some significance and acceptance based on bloodlines. We hide behind social standing for the same reason. When others begin to rise, we perceive their success as a threat to our status. Racism, prejudice and hate flow from such fear. There aren’t enough weapons or walls to provide a true sense of security to those whose breasts are filled with that original fear. No assurance from civil governments, no military genius can quell the uneasiness that interprets every threat as personal and deadly.

What Are We Afraid Of?

So what are we so afraid of? Adam said it was because they realized that they were naked. What’s so scary about that? I am aware as I get older that looking in the mirror can be quiet frightening, but Adam and Eve must have been relatively young! And they’d actually they been naked from the beginning, and not frightened by it. Now their focus was themselves, though, instead of on God whose brilliance demanded their full attention. They had become self-conscious to the degree that they felt responsible for their own success, security and significance. Worse yet, they experienced the wrongness of trying to live outside of the design intended for them. Humans weren’t designed to live apart from sharing life with God. They had chosen to try it. They found themselves exposed. So, they hid.

Scripture reveals what fearful people do. Cain killed Abel. Society became so corrupt that the flood came. After starting over, society sought significance by trying to build a tower to heaven. Wars, famines, revolutions and human atrocities all make up the story of human interactions. God generously gave the Law to a group he named Israel. Over time they ignored it, and there was more war, killing, stealing and corruption.

The Way Out of Our Fear

Finally another Adam appeared — Jesus Christ. He chose to trust only in his Father. He lived confident in that that relationship, knowing that nothing could harm Him except if the Father permitted it. He then shed His own blood in our place so that believing people could be covered from their shame. He rose again so believers could be empowered by the Holy Spirit to live again in partnership with God. In this state, believers are as secure as Jesus when He was on earth. We have no need to fear any force outside our God. He has given us a life that can face any threat with a hope and love that always conquers. He hasn’t guaranteed they will never be physically hurt or even killed, but He has promised that no one can take them out of His hands. He has conquered death so that it holds no leverage. He has shared his very life so that trials cannot shake their faith.

This love that casts out fear allows this new people, the people of God, to interact with others without the need for self-preservation to rule the relationship. This love is eager to forgive. It longs to reconcile. It is willing to suffer for the benefit of others. And it rejoices that its personal identity is determined by being God’s own sons.

Our fears will never be truly allayed by more police presence or either more or less access to weapons. It has been dealt a deathblow by the One who pulled us from behind our hiding places and restored us to walking humbly with Him. We can trust Him and love each other.