My family recently retuned from a summer vacation. We had the tried-and-true theme park experience and had a great time. One of the hallmarks of the theme park is of course the roller coaster, and let me just say up front I am not a roller coaster man. Oh I enjoy riding the tame ones now and then. Those rides are fun. But if a ride makes me go upside down? I don’t usually want to have anything to do with it. But for the sake of my daughter I told her I would ride on one of those not-so-tame rides with her. This one was a doozy. It went upside down (more than once). It twisted. It turned. It accelerated. It took us over the water. At the end my daughter was thrilled. I felt I was lucky to be alive.
Roller coasters have an interesting history. They began in the mid 1800s when people looked at a gravity railway used to haul coal between mines in Pennsylvania. The contraption was built to move coal, not people, but when spectators saw it in operation it wasn’t long before they wished they could ride it. So the owners allowed intrepid guests to ride for a small fee and the roller coaster was born.
We have come a long way with roller coasters since then. Today it is a big business. But why do we like them so much? What is so special about these things that would cause us to pay for the privilege of being tossed about? One crazy reason might actually be to rid yourself of kidney stones! Studies have shown that riding a roller coaster may help to dislodge the stones, although I am sure that can’t be the number one answer to this question. A far more widespread answer may have to do with stress. It turns out there are good kinds of stress for us. Eustress (from the Greek “eu” meaning good) is a positive kind of stress that gives us a kind of euphoria. Our brains are wired to like the chemical dopamine, and putting ourselves in positively stressful experiences such as roller coasters and bungee jumping can provide this. This kind of feeling can not only serve to make us happy, but has been shown to have good physical benefits. Some asthmatics have experienced better lung function when coming off a roller coaster ride.
I have another reason why we seek out such thrills. We like to make ourselves scared. As long as we know that we are ultimately safe, then we often get that same rush out of being scared. Just look at the horror movie genre. It accounts for between 5 to 10 percent of the global movie market. We have a weird relationship with fear for the most part. Unless we are talking about entertainment fear is usually a bad thing to us. And we can be afraid of a lot of things.
- The Weather
- Certain Events
- Our Safety and the Safety of Others
- Pain
- Bad Outcomes
- The Future
But then we come to the biblical phrase “The Fear of the the Lord.”
What about this? What does that mean? Are we supposed to be afraid of God? How can that be good?
You hear it all the time in the bible. Here are just a few passages:
Psalm 111:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;
His praise endures forever.
Proverbs 9:10
he fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Exodus 1:17
The midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live
Here is the best way I can explain this. If you have ever operated machinery of any kind you most likely had to take some kind of safety class (or at least read a manual that had a section on the safe operation of the machine). Sometimes you will come across the phrase “Have a healthy respect for the tool.” Maybe when you get behind the wheel of a car you have been told to respect the rules of the road. We are to respect the things that can be dangerous. This has something to do with fear, doesn’t it? We fear the consequences of not operating the machine properly, so we repent it. This kind of fear leads to respect.
But isn’t that what loving someone is supposed to mean? We are to respect those around us. We are to respect everyone. True respect for people shows a deep kind of love, the type of love commanded of all Christians.
But here we have arrived at the same thing, whether we started with love or fear. I would argue that fearing God and loving God are basically the same thing. There shouldn’t be much of a distinction. Both concepts lead to right relationships with the Lord. Fear and love both demand respect.
In this sense fear is not a bad thing at all. But neither are roller coasters (just don’t make me go on one again anytime soon).
God Bless