Guidelines From II Timothy For Counseling People With Fears

By John F. Bettler

Glen Ellyn, Illinois

The Christian counselor often encounters people who have the problem of specific fear. The files of counselors record cases involving fears of driving at night, hospitals, crossing bridges, flying, death and many others. Although some fears are easily adjusted to and may not require counseling, many are so inhibiting as to present obstacles to functioning in a Biblical manner and encourage compensating behavior that is decidedly unchristian. An example is Gloria, a Christian woman of twenty-three and recently married. Since a bad childhood experience while a patient at a hospital she has experienced a fear of hospitals that borders on panic. For years she rationalized her fear by judging all doctors as incompetent quacks and hospitals as refuges for the weak and lazy. Whenever a doctor was contacted by her family she demonstrated overt hostility towards him and refused to cooperate. She contacted a counselor when she realized that her fear threatened her marriage. She and her husband wanted children desperately and that meant hospitalization. Clearly she could no longer avoid handling the fear but had to face it directly if she were to function as a Christian wife.

How would a counselor help Gloria and others to handle fear? Traditional counseling of phobia takes one of two approaches: the dynamic or the behaviorist. The dynamic counselor is less concerned about the immediate, problem of fear than the underlying causes or dynamics of the problem. The fear is seen as symptomatic of a deeper, perhaps unconscious, problem. For example, in his Lectures on Psycho-Analysis Freud contends that all anxiety “… arises from libido that has become unusable for some reason … .”[1] A young child is sexually attracted to his mother. Anxiety develops when he experiences his father as a threat to that relationship. He is afraid that his father might punish him by castration and, therefore, represses his sexual desire for his mother. Later, the fear of castration is given an up-to-date form attaching itself to some other object like hospitals where the castration might be effected. Although woman cannot have a fear of castration, Freud maintains that they do have a castration complex and fear the loss of a mother’s love.[2]

The psycho-analyst would view Gloria’s fear of doctors and hospitals as an expression of an initial fear of her father long since repressed. He would attempt to create a climate in which Gloria would experience the therapist as the father, but a nonthreatening father who would not deprive her of her mother’s love. Supposedly, “reliving” the childhood experience in this way would remove her fear of doctors and hospitals.

If the dynamic counselor largely ignores the current behavior and looks to the past, the behaviorist ignores the past and looks only to the present and future. His goal is to recondition the client so that the fearful object is no longer threatening. Joseph Wolpe, professor of psychiatry at Temple University School of Medicine is famous for reconditioning through desensitization. Desensitization involves the piecemeal breaking down of fear by exposing the client to increasing fear-producing stimuli (usually through images) while in a physiologically relaxed state. The client eventually associates the fearful object with the non-threatening stimulus and the fear subsides. Wolpe says it is like getting a young child into water. First, the parent holds him while looking at the water; next he stands alongside the child; next an occasional wave is allowed to splash on their feet; next they walk into the water, etc., until finally the child no longer fears the water.[3]

The behaviorist would not concern himself with the cause of Gloria’s fear of hospitals. He would attempt to diminish the fear by teaching her to relax while imagining various contacts with doctors and hospitals. In six to twelve weeks she would learn to relax even under the most threatening situations imagined and her fear would disappear.

But the traditional dynamic and behaviorist therapies remove responsibility from the client. The psycho-analyst believes that a “germ” lurks somewhere in the unconscious that must be exposed through months and years of talking. When it is exposed it will die and the fear dies with it, “… much the same way that the physically ill person recovers from a strep throat when the penicillin kills the streptococcus.”[4] Gloria cannot be held morally responsible for her hostility since she is the victim of some hidden malignancy in her psyche.

The behaviorist is just as deterministic. He sees man as a conditioned machine. Wolpe boldly states: “Since the patient has had no choice in becoming what he is, it is incongruous to blame him for having gone awry .... The behavior therapist schools the patient to realize that his unpleasant reactions are due to emotional habits that he cannot help.”[5]

Both the dynamic and the behaviorist theories rest on views of man that the Christian cannot accept. To Freud man is an evolutionary animal whose instinctual drives have been thwarted and must be released through therapy. To Wolpe man is a conditioned animal who can learn new habits by trusting himself to the manipulations of the therapist. Both theories integrally reflect the anti-christian bias on which they rest. It is, therefore, a grave danger to accept portions of either theory which appear to coincide with Scripture. The Christian counselor must approach fearful people with a counseling theory that grows out of the Scriptures. He must view man as the creation of God, made in God’s image, and separated from God through his sin until he is renewed in the redeeming Christ and who must order his life by God’s directives through the sanctifying leading of the Holy Spirit.

Much work has yet to be done to develop an approach to counseling fearful people that consistently reflects and grows out of these Biblical basics regarding man. This article is designed simply to raise some initial guidelines for future con sideration. And it is further limited to an examination of the guidelines arising out of Paul’s second letter to Timothy.

Paul knew that Timothy had a problem with fear. When he advised the Corinthians of Timothy’s approaching arrival he cautioned them to “… see that he is with you without cause to be afraid … .” (I Corinthians 16:10). Paul also knew that men, perhaps stronger than Timothy had succumbed to fear and deserted him. Writing to Timothy from a Roman dungeon, facing the prospect of execution, he is almost alone (4:11). Some left him for pressing work elsewhere, but others forsook him because they had succumbed to the pressures of an unbelieving world (4:10). Dark days are coming to the early struggling church. False doctrine will be preached (2:16–18; 3:1–9) and will not want for attentive hearers (3:6, 7; 4:3, 4); ungodly behavior will become openly practiced (3:2–5); and the Christians will be persecuted while unbelievers grow stronger (3:12, 13). Paul seems to fear that Timothy will not be altogether unaffected by these pressures and with his naturally timid and over-sensitive temperament may be tempted to forsake his work and indulge in futile despondency. Again and again Paul admonishes his young disciple not to give in to his fears. “I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you” (1:6); “Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord” (1:8); “retain the standards of sound words which you have heard from me” (1:3); “Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2:3); “be diligent to present yourself approved to God” (2:15); “continue in the things you have learned” (3:14); “I charge you … preach the Word” (4:1). “Evidently the Apostle is anxious lest even the rich gifts with which Timothy is endowed should be allowed to rest through want of use. Timidity and weakness may prove fatal to him and his work, in spite of the spiritual advantages which he has enjoyed.”[6]

The tone of the whole letter is set in the opening verses. Especially critical is verse 7 where, in the midst of an admonition to stir up his “gift (χάρισμα) of God” (vs. 6), Paul reminds Timothy that “God has not given us a spirit of timidity (δειλία), but of power and love and discipline” (vs. 7). There are three words used in the Greek New Testament for fear. φόβος is the most common and can be used either in a good sense (as in reverence) or bad (as in cowardice); ἐυλάβεια is infrequently used but always in a good sense; δειλία also infrequently occurs but always in a bad sense. Its cognates describe the cowardly disciples during the storm at sea (Matthew 8:26; Mark 4:40), the fearful heart against which Jesus warns (John 14:27), and the unfaithful cowards who are sent to the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8).[7] It is this latter, very strong word for fear that Paul deliberately chooses: no doubt because he wished to dramatize the seriousness of his problem.

How does Paul counsel Timothy to deal with this problem? Three themes develop. First, he reminds Timothy that he does not have to be afraid; second, he shows Timothy how he (Paul) has not given in to fear; and third, he directs him to do the work at hand in spite of his fears. Or to put it more simply, he tells Timothy that he can overcome his fear; that others have overcome; and that he must overcome.

Paul first reminds Timothy of the tremendous resources of grace upon which he can draw to overcome his fear. “I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you” (1:6); “who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace” (1:9); “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2:1). He draws Timothy’s attention to the Scriptures which he has known since childhood and which are “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (3:16, 17). Timothy does not have to rely upon his own resources to handle this problem with fear, for he has the resources of saving grace in Christ Jesus who redeemed him from the enslaving bondage of sin and is revealed in the Scripture which is sufficient to direct Timothy to every good work. His help rests not in his own resources to handle his problem[8] but in these resources outside himself.

This is especially apparent in 1:7. God did not give (ἔδωκεν); the aorist signifies that this is something Timothy already possesses) Timothy[9] a spirit of fear but of power (δύναμις) and love (ἀγάπη) and discipline (σωφρονισμός).[10] The spirit which Timothy possesses is obviously the Holy Spirit, since γάρ connects verse 7 with verse 6 where the χάρισμα, “the spiritual gift” (cf. I Corinthians 12 and 14), is in view and the construction closely parallels a similar reference to the Holy Spirit in Romans 8:15.[11] Timothy does not possess a spirit of cowardice because God did not give a spirit of cowardice. The Holy Spirit Timothy possesses is a Spirit who produces power, love, and discipline or all that is necessary to counteract fear. The Holy Spirit grants power to overcome fear, love to direct attention away from self to others (contra fear which is basically selfish), and a sound mind to sort things out and take the right action. The effect of this emphasis upon the resources of grace is to remove any possible excuse for Timothy to indulge his fear. He can do something about it. In fact the fear is so inconsistent with God’s provision that he must do something about it. Paul will emphasize the necessity of handling the fear later, but he sets the stage by first giving hope to Timothy.

Secondly, Paul models for Timothy or shows him how he has not given in to fears. Paul encourages him to “join with me in suffering for the Gospel... For I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed” (1:8, 12). “But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra. What persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me” (3:10, 11). “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith …” (4:6). Paul is a living example of one who in the strength of Christ does not yield to fear but who remains faithful in the defense of the Gospel. He is willing to endure even imprisonment for the sake of those who are chosen that they may obtain salvation in Christ. The purpose of Paul’s reference to himself is not self-aggrandizement, but to show that the Lord stands by to deliver from evil (4:17, 18). He exemplifies God’s power to rescue from sin. If God did it for Paul he can do it for Timothy, for he has the same Spirit of power, love, and discipline.[12] The great model after whom Timothy should pattern his life is Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead …” (2:8). The resurrected Christ triumphed over slavish fear along with all sin. His mission was not thwarted by the cross, the attacks of his enemies, or the turning away of his Father. He endured the cross, despised the shame, and suffered hostility from sinners. Timothy should consider him and not grow weary or lose heart (Heb. 12:1–3). Modelling is an important counseling principle, especially in fear problems. The living example of overcoming fear ought to instill hope in the counselee. If others do it he can too, for there is no temptation taken us but such as is common to man.

The third thing Paul does is to instruct Timothy to complete his work in spite of his fear. He can do it, others have done it, now he must do it too. He gives Timothy no choice. If he has been called and gifted to do the work of the ministry, then he must do that work. Note the crisp imperatives dotting Paul’s letter: “kindle afresh” (1:6); “retain the standard” (1:13); “guard … the treasure” (1:14); “be strong” (2:1); “entrust” (2:2); “shun” (2:22); “continue” (3:14); “preach the word” (4:2). Paul comes not merely with persuasion or advice but with ringing commands. It will not be easy for Timothy to do this and Paul does not pull his punches. Timothy must be a soldier who disciplines himself to remain unentangled with nonsoldierly cares, an athlete who trains hard, and a farmer who works hard. But there is the reinforcing promise of reward. The soldier pleases his commander, the athlete wins the prize, and the farmer eats the produce (2:4–6). Reward is also promised to those who fight the good fight, finish the course, and keep the faith. Such faithfulness receives the crown of righteousness at the Lord’s appearing (4:7–8). Paul’s graphic illustrations picture difficult, painful, and disciplined effort which Timothy must be prepared to experience as he confronts his fear. But the effort yields blessing.

Paul’s illustration also presses home another point. Timothy must not expect his fears to be conquered instantly. He will not pray and find them miraculously gone. The soldier, the athlete, and farmer work and train long hours for weeks and months before they experience the results of their efforts. Timothy must expect a struggle with his fears before he overcomes them. This is not to deny the resources of grace so much as it is to take sanctification seriously. Sanctification is a process, a growth in grace. The trained soldier is stronger than the new recruit; the trained athlete runs faster than the amateur; the adult can handle more than the child. Although God could miraculously remove Timothy’s fear in an instant, he generally works through the normal process of growth by the means of grace. Timothy must expect the pains of growth as he deals with fear.[13] But he can only grow as he does the work. He will never experience that growth if he does not get into the battle and do the work. Thus, Paul’s unqualified commands.

There is a sense then in which Wolpe’s desensitization through gradual exposure to fear producing stimuli parallels Biblical sanctification. But it is only a surface parallel. Rather than counteracting the negative fear with a positive physiologically relaxed and pleasant state Paul counteracts the fear with a positive appropriating and application of God’s promises in Christ revealed in Scripture. Timothy is to test God’s promise by continuing in the work he has been set aside to accomplish. The more he experiences the power of God the more bold he will become and the more assured he will be in the work. The motivating stimuli gradually applied are the promises of God in Christ.

Perhaps it is unfair to suggest that Timothy’s timidity was the same as phobic fear, but it was a real fear (δειλία) and Paul’s counsel conceivably could serve as a helpful model for counseling people with phobias. The case involving Gloria’s fear of hospitals will exemplify the appropriation of these principles. The opening session with Gloria was used primarily to gather information regarding the nature, intensity, and history of her problem. It was concluded with a survey by the counselor of the three principles growing out of II Timothy. Gloria readily saw how her fear was keeping her from functioning as a Christian wife and she was encouraged when it was pointed out that the resources of grace in Christ could also deal with this sin. The counselor drew on his experience to demonstrate how others had overcome fears and showed how this often involved a process and gradual appropriation of Biblical principles. She was asked to read II Timothy and to memorize other verses dealing with fear. When she left she appeared encouraged.

In the second session the counselor asked a woman he had counseled earlier regarding a fear of driving at night to be present. She was questioned extensively by Gloria about her experiences and served as a living model of overcoming fear. Gloria’s hopes rose. The third and fourth sessions were used to discuss the degrees of fear Gloria experienced in various contacts with doctors and hospitals. The result of these discussions was a graduated list ranging from the least fearful to the most fearful possible contacts or involvement with doctors and hospitals, ranging from driving past her doctor’s office to recovering from surgery in the hospital.

In the fifth and sixth sessions Gloria was again reminded from II Timothy (with which she was now very familiar) that she must do something about her problem, namely overcome her fear in each of the areas on her list. It was decided that she would write on cards the verses she had memorized about fear, put them in a conspicuous place, and pray that God would enable her to claim the promises in those verses as she exposed herself to the fear-producing stimuli. She was asked to begin this process with the first item on her fear list, driving past her doctor’s office. She agreed to attempt this until she could do so without fear. She did so, confronting the fear-producing stimuli with the practical appropriation of God’s promise, and experienced in a practical way the power of God to overcome fear.

The next several sessions were spent discussing the other items on the graduated list of fears in a similar way. The more Gloria experienced fearlessness the more encouraged she was to move onto the next item. The process ended with a nurse friend taking her on a tour of the local hospital. Although she experienced some tension it was not debilitating and she felt ecstatic at her progress. The last few weeks of counseling were devoted to applying what she had learned to an actual situation. She had to contact a doctor regarding a long standing problem that required minor surgery. A graduated list of approaches was made and she followed through without serious problems. There were many other problems (e.g. sinful interpersonal relationships) that were dealt with in counseling, but I have included only those points germane to this paper. It should be noted how again and again the principles of II Timothy occurred in the counseling process. Gloria was shown how she could deal with her problem, how others dealt with theirs and that she must deal with it.

Much more research must be done regarding counseling fearful people. This paper has presented just one model. I hope that it will prompt discussion and that it possibly will result in others.

Notes

1. Sigmond Freud, The Complete Introductory Lectures on Psychoantysis (New York: Norton, 1966) p. 548.
2. Ibid. p. 551.
3. Joseph Wolpe and Arnold A. Lazarus, Behavior Therapy Techniques (New York: Pergamon Press, 1966), p. 55.
4. William Glasser, Reality Therapy (New York: Harper and Row), p. 45.
5. Wolpe and Lazarus, op. cit., p. 16.
6. Alfred Plummer, The Pastoral Epistles (New York: A. C. Armstrong and Son), p. 311:
7. Cf. Richard Trench, Synonymns of The New Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1966), pp. 34-37.
8. Contra the popular “client-centered therapy” of Carl Rogers which rests on the assumption that man has within himself all the resources he needs to handle his own problems.
9. ἡμῖν involves not only Timothy and Paul but all who have been saved and called with a holy calling (vs. 9).
10. σωφρονισμος is a hapax legomenon, compounded of σαός or σῶς (sage, sound) and φρῆν (mind). Although the termination might indicate the transitive meaning the context rather suggests the meaning “self control” or “self-discipline.” The gift of the Holy Spirit indicates that the Christian cannot lose control of his mind but is always capable of sober judgment.
11. Lenski’s contention that the descriptive genitive rules out any reference to the Holy Spirit is negated by John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13 where Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of truth.” Cf. Hendrikson, NTC, I–II Timothy and Titus, p. 229.
12. Wolpe cites an interesting experiment in which modelling helped children overcome fear of dogs. “Young children very fearful of dogs were assigned to one of four treatment conditions. In eight brief sessions, one group observed a fearless peer-model exhibit progressively more fear-arousing interactions with a dog. The modelled approach-behavior was presented within a highly positive party context, designed to counteract anxiety reactions. After the jovial party was well under way, a fearless 4-year-old boy entered the room leading a dog, and performed prearranged sequences of interactions with the dog for approximately three minutes during each session. The fear-provoking properties of the modelled displays were gradually increased from session to session by simultaneously varying the physical restraints on the dog, the directness and intimacy of the approach responses, and the duration of interaction between the model and the dog. A second group of children observed the same graduated performances, but outside the party context. A third group of children observed the dog in the positive context but with the model absent. A fourth group participated in the positive activities but was never exposed to either the dog or the modelled displays. Children’s phobic behavior was measured separately toward two different dogs following completion of the treatment program and again a month later. The two groups of children who had observed the peer model interact non-anxiously with the dog displayed significantly greater approach behavior toward both the experimental and an unfamiliar animal than children in the dog exposure or the control conditions, who did not differ from each other. The party context added only slightly to the favorable outcomes of modeling. While 67 percent of children receiving the modelling treatment were eventually able to remain alone in the room confined with the dog, this was attained by relatively few children in the two control conditions.” Joseph Wolpe, The Practice of Behavior Therapy (New York: Pergamon Press, 1969, pp. 166-167).
13. Paul also stresses this point in I Timothy 4:7. There, in a context similar to II Timothy (“let no one look down on your youthfulness … .,” 4:12; “do not neglect the spiritual gift within you …,” 4:14), Paul advises, “… discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” The word for discipline is γυμνάζω, from which we get our word gymnasium. He compares this spiritual exercise with the physical in verse 8. Sustained, practiced, and difficult labor must go into the development of godliness, one fruit of which will be diminished fear.