It was a dark and stormy night. Rain beat against the window, the wind shook the house, and periodic bolts of lightning faintly and briefly illuminated the bedroom. In the bed at the center of the room lay a young boy with only his frightened eyes peeking out from under the covers. With every flash of light his eyes search the room with full certainty that, particularly on a night like this, evil is lurking. Suddenly, he sees a dark form standing in the corner. The form stands seven, NO, eight feet tall, a dark cloak draped across its shoulders and stretching to the floor. The shape’s evil gaze is fixed upon the young lad. He is certain it is the Boogeyman come to exact terrible vengeance upon him. With his last measure of courage, the boy leaps from his bed, runs to the light switch, and turns on the lights to confront evil incarnate only to discover it wasn’t the Boogeyman after all. It was just a hat hung high on the wall with a bathrobe draped underneath. His fear was unwarranted, the combined effects of the storm outside and his own imagination.
This story could describe any number of children through the ages. Most civilizations throughout the world have a Boogeyman. These Boogeymen are evil personified, our fear made flesh. It has often been a tool used by adults to frighten children into behaving. Who among us hasn’t checked a closet or two or done a quick check under the bed to reassure ourselves that the space was vacant before turning out the lights? Who among us hasn’t heard noises in the night or seen shapes in the shadows and wondered if something was lurking? I know I have. The story above is actually based on my own experience, and I was 30+ years old at the time! (I have issues!)
Sometimes the Boogeymen we perceive are real. Sometimes they are inflated or imagined. The struggle to discern between the two is very real and we’re not very good at it.
As we grow older, our fear of monsters lurking in dark corners, open closets, or under beds lessen, but I don’t know that it disappears entirely. Often, our fear migrates to Boogeymen living in the real world. We see them on the nightly news, in political offices, in those holding different religious perspectives and living life in ways we believe inappropriate. We, like Martin Luther in his great hymn, A Mighty Fortress, see a “world with devils filled” threatening to “undo us.” Sometimes the Boogeymen we perceive are real. Sometimes they are inflated or imagined. The struggle to discern between the two is very real and we’re not very good at it.
I am concerned that we (Christians) have developed a bad habit of imagining boogeymen in every proverbial dark corner or closet. I acknowledge that evil does exist in this world; it’s a struggle we will face until Jesus returns. But, the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It follows that the fear of the adversary of the Lord is the beginning of foolishness. Fear is, by definition a mixed feeling of dread and reverence. The issue of fearing the wrong thing in the wrong way is that we give that person or thing a place of preeminence and power in our lives. That to which we devote our attention will play a large part in influencing our attitudes and actions. Our fear of perceived Boogeymen causes us to fixate and pay respect to the wrong thing and often results in us acting wrongly in relation to one another and to God himself.
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It follows that the fear of the adversary is the beginning of foolishness.
We would do well to return to the words of Martin Luther. He writes, “And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, WE WILL NOT FEAR, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us: The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, for lo, His doom is sure…” Or, we could look to the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Put another way, when we put our faith in Jesus, we need not fear the Boogeyman, whether real or imagined. God’s got us!
The great threat is not that evil forces will undo us, but that we will allow the threat of evil to distract us. God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). Rather than fixating on the Boogeymen in the darkness of our world, we should fix our eyes of Jesus and endeavor all the more to share the hope and grace of the gospel. We don’t fear the darkness; rather we shine the light of God’s love that drives the darkness, and the Boogeymen that inhabit it, away.
