Footloose and Fearful

Seven truths for frightened hearts

I finally watched the original 1984 Footloose movie a couple of years ago with my husband. In my defense, I was only three when the movie first came out and it’s not exactly appropriate for toddlers. By the time I was a teenager, we were in a cultic subgroup of Christianity that made the town of Bomont seem liberal by comparison. And then for whatever reason Footloose never made it on my list of pop-culture-to-catch-up-on.

Photo by Lukas Eggers

I was definitely missing out. There are reasons it’s a classic!

Besides the cassette tapes, leg warmers, and core memories brought back by the church ladies’ 80s glasses and haircuts, I found myself noticing the fear. It’s a familiar fear—one that strongly influenced my own story and helps to create the current backdrop of the evangelical culture: above all else, we must protect the children.

Evangelicals have created all kinds of rules and expected behaviors out of fear and a desire to protect. (Purity culture, anyone?) But can we actually change someone’s heart by controlling their behavior? Does enclosing someone with a moral fence truly keep them safe? History says no. My own experience says it doesn’t work. Footloose agrees.

In case you need a reminder, the town of Bomont has outlawed dancing among other things. The pastor argues against rock music in his sermons. People are burning library books and firing teachers as they try to protect the young people from evil. But the pastor’s own daughter is living recklessly, taking risks, and sneaking out. Behind the adults’ control and the teens’ rebellion are the same things: grief and fear.

Evangelical Christian leaders have been warning about the moral decay of our society for decades. From rock music and hippies, to abortion and LGBTQIA+, there always seems to be issues to preach about and against, as well as things to be afraid of and rules to make. But I’m here to tell you that the world hasn’t really changed. It’s been this way since we left Eden.

“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence” Genesis 6:11.

Just ten generations had past from the time Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden to Noah building the ark. And in that short time the earth became completely corrupt.

Things deteriorated just as quickly in the land of Israel once the people entered the Promised Land. They went from following a living pillar of cloud and fire and watching God work miracles on their behalf, to the utter chaos of Judges chapters 17-21.

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” Judges 17:6.

In my cult days we idolized the 1800s for some reason. They were the “good-old-days of morality and chivalry. I was convinced that I’d been born in the wrong century. We conveniently dismissed slavery, patriarchy, rampant sexual disease, poverty and filth, early death, etc. Somehow these issues were more acceptable than the frightening issues of our modern age. It’s really ridiculous.

Photo by Annie Spratt

The fear in our evangelical culture put us where we are today as a nation. But fear isn’t just something evangelical Christians feel. Fear and anxiety seem to dominate our society on all sides. Social media and the news hype and exploit our fear. Friends, fear is not a fruit of the Spirit. It is a distraction from the enemy that weakens and confuses us. We cannot think critically when we are living in our brainstems trying to survive.

Tabitha McDuffee

asked some really important questions the other day on her Substack feed that made me wonder if this is what I am feeling.

Are you anxious about the current chaos in our country? Are you worried you’re not doing “enough”? Have you considered adding calling your representatives, researching executive orders, and community organizing to your daily to-do list?

Were you also raised in American evangelicalism of the late 1980s to early 2000s?

That anxiety is not the Holy Spirit speaking to you.

It’s more likely years of subliminal and explicit messaging that told us we had to “change the world”, “take back the culture for Jesus”, and “do hard things” if we were serious about our faith.

The Holy Spirit is a spirit of peace (Rom. 8:6), and Scripture already tells us exactly how we should live in the midst of empire chaos.

“Pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity” 1 Tim. 2:1-2.

I’m not saying that we sit around and do nothing. But sometimes it seems like people expect us to be in a state of fear, anxiety, and depression to prove we actually care. There is almost a pressure to be fearful. That feels like legalism to me, and I don’t think it’s biblical.

Photo by Tonik

I’m want to end this letter today with seven truths to combat the raging fear around us and possibly within us.

1. Our earth has always been broken; it isn’t something new.

2. Rules will never change hearts. They can’t.

3. This world is temporary, and it’s not our final home.

4. It’s not up to us to fix the brokenness—we can’t!

5. Jesus has already overcome the world!

6. He is strong enough to fix it and He will when He comes to reign as King.

7. Until then, we have the Holy Spirit with us to help, comfort, and guide us.

We do not need to live in fear. I’m not saying we will never feel fear, but we do not need to live out of that fear. Fear makes us do strange things. Fear opens us to believing lies and being controlled.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” 1 John 4:18.

Truth sets us free. Solid theology, the things we believe about God, ourselves, and our world, can bring us freedom and peace. It’s not up to us to create an earthly utopia where we feel constant safety and happiness. If we are followers of Jesus, then we are part of a new Kingdom—an alternate reality that is bigger than one empire. Believers have lived in scary empires around the world for generations, so let’s focus on living well, loving strong, and trusting God. Then we can act on things that are important to us without doing it out of fear.

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