For Singapore to live up to the call to be the Antioch of Asia, for souls to be saved – we need to deal with the fear of man, said Ben Fitzgerald.

“The fear of man is the Number 1 thing that cripples us from sharing Jesus,” said the leader of Awakening Europe and GODfest Ministries.

“God wants to set us free from the fear of man, because He wants to free you to see more people saved.

“We have a fear of human opinion, of rejection, if we share the gospel, if take it into our office. So we try to live in this grey area of pleasing everybody, but end up pleasing no one. And we don’t do what God wants us to do.

“Let me tell you – if you’re walking right with God, and you’re doing His thing – if even the most powerful person in the world has a bad opinion of you, it shouldn’t mean a thing. It shouldn’t even shake a leaf off your tree.”

WHAT IS YOUR SOURCE?

The 35-year-old, speaking at Kingdom Invasion 2018, said he came to this realisation after an incident where a pastor he admired walked up to where Fitzgerald had been standing, shook the hands of 6 people, approached Fitzgerald, looked him in the eye – then walked off without shaking his hand.

“I was upset. I was petrified. ‘What have I done wrong? Why does he hate me?’ All of this was in my head! Or was it?!” he recounted.

That’s when Fitzgerald starting to think about the source of his fear.

“God told me: ‘Ben, you’ve made mankind and their opinion of you an idol. You’ve made their opinion of you greater than My worth.’

“I fasted, and something told me to turn to Jeremiah 17:5. ‘This is what the LORD says: Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD.’

“It floored me. I said God forgive me, I’m so sorry.”

“God told me: ‘Ben, you’ve made mankind and their opinion of you an idol. You’ve made their opinion of you greater than My worth.’

The question, Fitzgerald, comes down to: Where is your heart? Where is it planted? Where is the source it’s drawing from?

“Is it the opinion of man? You’re feeding from the wrong source – you’re trying to make a fake, false you. It’s exhausting and you lose the real you.

“By making a pseudo, false real, you end up being more rejected. God didn’t make a fake you to be loved. He made the real you to be loved.”

The age of social media doesn’t help, noted Fitzgerald.

“We’re in this generation of micro-judgments. In this age we’re living for the likes we get on Instagram and Facebook. We begin to validate themselves based on what pops up on a screen.

”If you have zero followers on Facebook and Instagram, but you have the love of God, let me tell you – you have everything.”

DO IT FOR ASIA

Speaking at the Singapore Expo on March 16, 208, Fitzgerald said that while there was much to marvel about Singapore as a nation, Christians have to keep focused on the main thing: The need to see more saved, on the island and in the region.

“Singapore and the nations of Asia must hear the Gospel. But you’ve got to be free of the fear of what everyone else thinks of you. That makes you powerless. God doesn’t want that for you,” said Fitzgerald.

“The only way the nations of Asia will truly thrive is if the Gospel is preached.

“I want better economics, better housing, all those things. But God doesn’t want a great economic system if everyone’s going to hell.

“The Gospel is not a secondary, or third-ary, need. It is the primary need.”

In his personal experience, Fitzgerald said, losing the fear of man and replacing it with the right fear of God has led to boldness in evangelism.

“When I walked out of the fear of man, and just learnt to preach the Bible as it is written, I found more souls were saved!

“God wants us to be fruitful, to see more souls saved. We need to let go of the fear so that the Spirit can lead us into fruitfulness.

“Whatever the enemy has restricted and oppressed you with, we need to break it. We need to have a death party for fear.”

The only way to do this: Ask God to break this spirit of fear. Let go, let go of human opinion. Say, I’m sorry, God, for making mankind a bigger source – of validation, of affirmation, of direction – than You. Forgive me for disobeying your voice and trusting in people more than your love.

Take authority of the spirit of the fear of man. In Jesus’ name, bind and command the spirits of fear to leave.

Then be filled with the love of God, which teaches you to be full of the love for man – and preach the Gospel.