It is a little different for me to write on a subject such as “The Fear of Studying.”  Typically I would write “Do Not Fear Study.”  I have known, as do most Christians, that worldly folks are afraid of the truth because of changes that they would need to make to obey.  I have known, as do most faithful brethren, that there are some Christians that are afraid to study because of changes they would need to make.  Yet, it still surprises me when I see brethren run from studying the truth.  Recently I watched some discussions on an e-mail list.  There were some that were asking honest questions and challenging positions that some on that e-mail list held.  Interestingly some of the brethren on that e-mail list refer to themselves as those wanting to “reason together”.  Yet, when presented with questions they took offense and immediately sought out reasons to get rid of the ones asking the questions.  Why?

There were those in Jesus’ ministry that had this attitude.  The Lord reveals why:
John 5:37-44 “And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.  And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.  And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.  I receive not honour from men.  But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.  I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.  How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?”

When we look into God’s word we have to be honest.  We have to be like the Berean’s, studying the word daily with a “readiness of mind” (Acts 17:10-11).  Without the proper heart and mind we will not come to a realization of the truth (Luke 8:15 and Luke 10:27).  When we see that the Bible teaches we are wrong we need to be willing to change.  This is what we know as repentance (Acts 26:20).  We can see this type of honesty in the Apostle Paul (Acts 9:1-18).  Paul had obviously thought that what he was doing was pleasing to God (Acts 26:9-20).  He saw that he was wrong and made the change to correct that.  This is honesty.  Yet, some have things that keep them from being honest.

Sometimes the Christian has to make choices to rid themselves of things that hinder them from being honest.  The Pharisees, chief rulers, and sadly many preachers today love the praise of men more than the praise of God (John 12:42-43).  Many times this keeps others from being honest in their studies.  Maybe if the “brotherhood” where not so political at times then brethren could stand for themselves instead of being concerned with the thoughts of others.  This was a problem in the 1st Century and as the saying goes “there is nothing new under the sun.”  The fact remains that we cannot obey God and man at the same time (Matthew 15:7-9 and Galatians 1:10).

For others they may have family and friends that stand between them and the truth.  (Matthew 10:37-39) “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”  Remember the way that we show our love for the Lord is by obeying His will (John 14:15).

Whatever stands in our way of looking honestly at God’s word needs to be removed.  For some it may be pride (Proverbs 16:18), and others just a lack of concern for their souls.  Whatever that reason may be it is not worth eternity in Hell.  The interesting thing about the e-mail list I was reading off of was that many on that list were so concerned with being right that they never looked at or answered the questions put before them.  The dishonestly represented the views of others.   Why?  John 8:43-44 “Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”  It is a sad thing to see others not willing to honestly research the truth.  Yet, we did read these things in the Old and the New Testaments.  Paul told Timothy (II Timothy 2:15) “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  When we study let’s do so with fear.  The type of fear that leads to obedience, not the fear of men or pride that hinders us!  The concluding truth is that the fear of study is the result of a fear of change.