The 3 kinds of fear at play in leadership

Tom Harper June 30, 2025

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I like how GotQuestions.org breaks down the concept of fear. First, there's respect in the way a servant fears his master and serves him faithfully; then there is the reverence or awe we feel in the presence of greatness.

They further define fear as "the continual awareness that our loving heavenly Father is watching and evaluating everything we think, say and do." (The full article can be found here.)

In chapter 3 of The Fear of God, the Christian classic I've been studying, John Bunyan goes a step further to say the fear of judgment is good, driving non-believers to faith. Romans 1:18 describes God's anger toward sinners—we are indeed wise to fear his wrath.

Another benefit of this fear of eternal punishment for sin is that once it is no longer present due to repentance, it naturally leads to gratitude for the Lord's mercy, making us want to serve him (Ps. 2:11). On top of that, when we as believers feel deep reverence and even tremble in awe at God's majesty and power, we exercise another aspect of godly fear, drawing us even closer to him.

These three kinds of fear we've looked at are all useful and good. They are 1) fear of punishment or judgment; 2) fearful respect that leads to faithful service; and 3) awe in the presence of power.

This short list can also be applied to our interactions with people. For example, it helps me understand why there are so many different reactions to a leader's authority. Sometimes people react out of self-preservation (due to their fear of punishment), loyalty (out of respect), or fawning (when they're intimidated by power.)

Have you seen people react in any of these ways to your leadership? How have you reacted in return?

How would you describe your own fear of the Lord?

Serving with you,

Tom Harper
Founder, BiblicalLeadership.com
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Tom Harper is publisher of BiblicalLeadership.com and executive chairman of Networld Media Group, a business-to-business publisher and event producer. He has written five books, including Servant Leader Strong: Uniting Biblical Wisdom and High-Performance Leadership (DeepWater Books, 2019) as well as the Christian business fable Through Colored Glasses and its sequel Inner Threat (DeepWater, 2022). Learn More »

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