Leading Beyond Fear

Twelve years ago, I was diagnosed with glaucoma, a disease that quietly diminishes vision by damaging the optic nerve. While my peripheral vision remains sharp, I struggle with the center. Ironically, this physical condition mirrors a spiritual ailment that even leaders in the early church weren't immune to a condition I now call gospel glaucoma.

The apostle Peter once suffered from it, too. And it took Paul, bold and unflinching, to call it out in Galatians 2:11–14. Peter, the rock, lost sight of the gospel's center. What happened to him should serve as a sobering warning to all of us: fear distorts leadership, and when fear takes the lead, the gospel is left behind.

The Spiritual Glaucoma of a Leader

Paul’s confrontation with Peter is nothing short of jarring. Peter, once fearless before rulers and crowds, had begun to shrink back. The text tells us why: “fearing the circumcision party” (Galatians 2:12). And in pulling away from Gentile believers, he modeled a dangerous hypocrisy that others even Barnabas began to imitate.

This wasn’t a minor disagreement over dinner customs. Paul saw something far more serious: “Their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel” (Galatians 2:14). The disease wasn’t dietary it was doctrinal. The leaders of the early church were forgetting that faith in Christ, not conformity to Jewish law, was the foundation of salvation. Fear had clouded their vision.

No Leader Is Immune

If Peter apostle, inner-circle disciple, the one who walked on water and preached at Pentecost could fall prey to fear, who among us is safe?

Peter knew grace. He’d been forgiven after denying Jesus. He had personally witnessed the inclusion of Gentiles in the kingdom of God (Acts 10). But even after all that, he still allowed fear to redirect his actions. Experience, title, and past faithfulness couldn’t shield him from slipping into gospel blindness.

Let that sober every leader. Past faithfulness is not future insurance. In seasons of pressure, reputation management, or cultural tension, even the most seasoned among us can lose clarity. The gospel is never something we graduate from it's the center we must continually refocus upon.

When Leadership Curves Inward

Peter didn’t fall alone. As Galatians 2 reveals, “the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him,” and even Barnabas was pulled in. A team that once championed gospel unity now excluded the very people they once embraced. This is how leadership cultures can curve inward reinforcing comfort, insulating against critique, and slowly drifting from truth.

Churches today are not immune. Leadership teams can reward conformity, mistake silence for unity, and treat dissent as betrayal. Before long, preserving the “culture” matters more than preserving the gospel.

Paul, an outsider to this circle, became the mirror they needed. He loved the gospel and Peter enough to confront him publicly. His courage realigned the vision of a team that had lost its way.

Fear Is a Poor Compass

Peter’s fear of the circumcision party shifted his direction. Instead of leading with gospel conviction, he led with caution. Fear, after all, transfers power. It places the steering wheel of our decisions into someone else’s hands. Rather than asking, “What does God require?” we ask, “What will they think?”

The reasons for Peter’s fear are up for debate. Maybe he longed for approval. Maybe he feared backlash that could disrupt unity in Jerusalem. Either way, his fear made the opinions of men louder than the truth of God.

Modern leaders face the same temptation. Fear of being labeled, misunderstood, or rejected can mute conviction and dilute courage. Leaders hesitate to speak hard truths, avoid tough conversations, and begin crafting ministry strategies more around optics than obedience.

I’ve done it, too. I've stayed silent to keep peace. I've spoken to impress rather than to edify. I've leaned into certain groups to feel accepted, while ignoring the whisper of the Holy Spirit to say otherwise.

Fear blurs the gospel. And it compromises our leadership.

Gospel Courage Leads with Clarity

Enter Paul. He saw Peter’s behavior not just as inconsistency, but as a denial of the gospel’s implications. His confrontation wasn’t cruel it was courageous. Paul understood that real love speaks when silence would betray the truth.

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” In other words, courage is what makes every other virtue visible when the stakes are high.

Leadership without courage is like a ship without a rudder. And gospel courage the kind Paul displayed is rooted in conviction, not personality. It stands firm even when admired leaders falter. It says the hard thing when the easy way out would preserve peace.

So, how do we grow in this courage?

Three Soul-Searching Questions

1. Do you fear those you lead?

You cannot both lead and fear your people. Fear gives others the ability to steer your decisions. When fear dominates, leaders begin seeking approval more than transformation. Ministry becomes a mirror of public opinion rather than a response to God’s Word.

2. Are you avoiding hard conversations to keep the peace?

Peace that comes from passivity is not biblical peace. If there’s a Peter in your life someone walking in clear contradiction to the gospel and you remain silent out of fear, you're not protecting unity. You’re enabling hypocrisy. Love sometimes requires confrontation.

3. Are you willing to lose your reputation for the sake of the gospel?

Reputation matters Proverbs says so (Proverbs 22:1). But when maintaining a reputation begins to matter more than faithfulness to the gospel, we’ve lost our way. Paul risked his standing with Peter and others because the gospel mattered more.

And what about us? Can we lead with the same courage when the opinions that matter most to us are at risk?

Fixing Our Eyes Again

At the heart of Paul’s response to Peter is a beautiful reminder of the gospel’s power and promise. He writes in Galatians 2:19–20:

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

That’s how we lead not by our strength, but by His life in us. That’s how we regain sight by returning to the cross, where fear is buried and boldness is born.

Leadership will always test our convictions. The approval of others will tempt us. But when our eyes are fixed on Jesus not the crowd, not the party, not the platform we can lead with clarity and courage.

So, if you’re a leader who loves the Word and longs to honor Christ, take heart. Disapproval may come. Misunderstanding may follow. But gospel-centered leadership is not about popularity. It’s about faithfulness.

Let Christ be your center again. The One who was rejected so we could be accepted is worthy of every risk we take for His name.

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