The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted (Prov 29:25).

I like people. I like it when people like me. We were not meant to live in isolation. We need each other. We need the love, the affirmation the respect that we get from our loved ones, our friends.

All of this is healthy provided it is a byproduct of each of us operating out of our identity in Christ. A healthy culture will affirm who God has created each of us to be. It will honor our uniqueness as sons and daughters of the King. In that kind of environment, we are released to operate in all God has created us to be.

Living from our authentic selves is not always easy. People will not always appreciate who you are. As the saying goes, “hurt people hurt people.” All of us have been hurt by wounded people acting out of their wounded-ness.

In addition to the assaults of wounded men and women, we live in a society that emphasizes political correctness. Political correctness is in actuality an oppressive force that attempts to coerce people to conform to a certain standard in order to be considered acceptable. It is man pleasing on a societal level. In many spheres of society, standing up for your convictions that are not politically correct will result in you being vilified. Danny Silk says that political correctness is a religious spirit that, “in the name of God causes people to be afraid of who they are created to be.”

With all of these pressures, it is not hard to understand why people, particularly those who have been hurt or are insecure, are willing to compromise their uniqueness to please others. This is what the fear of man does. It causes people to compromise their identity in order to receive the praise of men and women. When we fear man, we say to them, “You have power to determine my worth.” That is a dangerous place. It causes us to compromise for the sake of the praise of people rather than living for the One who created us, who truly loves us. When we fear man we hide our authentic self and choose to live a facade, a false self.

The fear of man is a form of idolatry. It is allowing man to take a place in our heart that should be reserved for God. Once we start to fear man, we stop operating from a Kingdom perspective. Instead of being led by the Holy Spirit, instead of fearing God, we are now letting the approval of others dictate our actions.

The answer to the fear of man is not arrogance. It is not a bombastic attitude. Over the years I have encountered rude people who say that they don’t care what anyone thinks. That is not the answer. I like it when people affirm me. But I can’t allow my enjoyment of affirmation to cause me to compromise my own integrity just for the praise of others.

Ridding ourselves of the fear of man hinges on two factors. The first is the fear of the Lord By “the fear of the Lord I mean a reverence for God that causes us to be so consumed by His greatness that everything else fades into the background. When this occurs, we are no longer bound by the opinions of man. He becomes our focus and the praises and criticisms of man lose their hold on us.

The other part of this is understanding our identity. The Bible declares that we are, “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps 139:14). The word “fearfully” could be translated awesome. When God looks at you He says, “you are awesome.” This is not an excuse for pride but a recognition of His goodness that is deposited in us as the crowning of His creation. To look at someone else and wish I was like them is to denigrate who God made me to be. I no longer do that. I am free to follow God, to live the life He has placed in front of me as the man He created me to be. He delights in me living my real, authentic life before Him. When I understand who I am as His creation I am no longer bound by the opinions of others.