Here’s another almost unknown Latin phrase: incurvatus in se. Many centuries old, it means “man (or woman) turned in on self.” It’s a great way to understand our sin. We habitually turn inward to our own feelings and inclinations. This is a First Commandment sin, because in turning inward we are not loving our God with all our heart. Martin Luther says, “It is easy to understand how in these things (gross sins) we seek our fulfillment and love ourselves, how we are turned in upon ourselves and become ingrown at least in our heart.” But now comes the twist: In trying to live rightly before God, we believers can subtly turn in on ourselves. “We do them now not because they are pleasing to God but because they delight us and quiet the fears of our heart, because we are praised by men, and thus we do them not for the sake of God but for ourselves” (Romans, LW, 25:245-246). “We have turned – everyone – to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).

Second Corinthians 5:10 reminds us: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” Oh, that should put the fear of God into you! And that’s another seldom-used phrase, the “fear of God.”

The Bible uses the word “fear” broadly and often. We can understand fear across a spectrum. At one extreme is the emotion we experience when something threatening comes at us that we cannot withstand – a bad diagnosis, financial ruin, marriage on the rocks, etc. At the other extreme are similar feelings, but our attitude changes when we hear that our mighty God is coming to our rescue. God for us, not against us.

How do we respond to his deliverance? Wow! Awesome! And that, dear reader, is the “fear of God.”

“Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Psalm 34:11).  This is good fear, wholesome fear, the fear of the Lord.

“If you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed… with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:17-19). The ancient term, Missio Dei, is most specific: Jesus turns us out of ourselves to God our Father. How awesome is the fear of God! Consider adding these seldom-used words to your faith vocabulary.

Questions to ponder with yourself and others

• Name some symptoms of man turned in on himself.
  
• Just as we are guilty of turning in on ourselves, the church can also turn in on itself. How or where do you see this happening today?
  
• How might daily “fear of God” – reverent awe that God comes to us – strengthen our mission to the world?