Fear is one of those things that, at some level, we all face. Fear of spiders, of being mugged in a dark alley, of being diagnosed with a terminal illness, of losing our children, of failing, or of leaving the curling iron on and burning the house down. At the end of the day, our fears show a lack of trust in a loving, caring, all-powerful God. In fact, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18) But becoming “fearless” isn’t quite that easy, is it? It should be, but it isn’t. Try telling someone who is going out on stage, but is deathly afraid of public speaking, “Just love God more…it’ll be ok!” and likely, right in the heat of the moment, that won’t help.
Trite answers rarely do. Truth is truth, yes, but it must be packaged in a way that addresses body and soul, ministering to the person based on their past, present, and future. Merely telling somebody what they have to believe, and not helping them to apply it to their lives, is typically not helpful, and often does more damage than good.
Though I found much of Lucado’s book filled with truth, it often smacked of the trite, quick-fix answers that Christians are often criticized of offering. I’m not questioning Lucado’s heart, but just being honest with the fact that much of the book I found to be, well…quick-fixy (yes, I just made up a word). The book is full of truth, with Lucado mixing lots of Scripture references, and even doing a bit of exegetical work (he is a pastor, after all!), but the way in which it was communicated does not resonate with me like other books on fear do. In fact, I would strongly recommend Running Scared, by Ed Welch, as a stronger alternative to Lucado’s Fearless.
I don’t believe it will lead people astray. In fact, I enjoyed his chapter “I’m Sinking Fast,” in which he talks about the importance of looking to Christ in the midst of the storm, and realizing that He has intentionally not removed the storm from our lives because He intends to work some good in us through it. However, this book falls short of my expectations.
I hate to give a sour review, but this book was not my favorite, and won’t go on my shelf of recommended reads.
