In Chapter 7 (“There’s a Dragon in My Closet”) of Fearless, Max Lucado uses the example of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane as a model for the healthy church in action. Max notes that when Jesus asked the Father to take away His cup of suffering, that cup represented, in Biblical terminology, God’s anger, judgment and punishment. Despite being sorrowful and troubled, Jesus faced His circumstances with honest prayer.
Pastor Lucado illustrates this with a story from his childhood. As a young boy, Max was allowed to sit in his father’s lap as dad drove his gasoline company truck through the Texas oil fields. Little Max had no fear of putting his hands on the wheel because he knew his father was in control. So it is with us and our heavenly Father.
The author concludes by describing how the totality of our worship experience can cast out fear:
“A healthy church is where our fears go to die. We pierce them through with Scripture, psalms of celebration and lament. We melt them in the sunlight of confession. We extinguish them with the waterfall of worship, choosing to gaze at God, not our dreads.”
