What are the characteristics of a minister who fears God? Mala Chindongo explains in this video that a man who fears God is one who does not focus on himself but instead on the will of God. When it comes to missions, a missionary or pastor on the mission field knows that he is there for the honor of God. In contrast, a missionary who has no fear of God doesn't think about the people he is preaching to or the fear, love, and honor of God, but only about the glory of self. A key to better understanding the fear of God is that we understand that God is big and we are small. What the fear of God does to a pastor or missionary is that they see what they’re doing is not about themselves but about God. They fear God and strive to avoid displeasing Him. Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NKJV) – “'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,' says the Lord.”

When we talk about the fear of God, one of the things that do is that it takes self out of the way. A man who fears God is one who, in whatever he does, he takes self out of the way and focuses on the glory of God and the honor of God and the love of God. And so when it comes to missions and the fear of God, is that a missionary or a pastor on the mission field, one of the things he's thinking is that, I'm here for the honor of God, for the glory of God. And so some of the concerns that I have when it comes to missions is that you get missionaries that will come and turn what they're doing into a project. No longer thinking about dealing with people, no longer thinking about the fear of God, the love of God, the honor of God, the whole thing becomes about the goal of self and what kind of image or maybe praise it brings to them.

Part of the fear of God is that we understand that God is big and we are small. And so if we are out there serving, what the fear of God does to a pastor or a missionary is that it brings them to a place where they see that whatever they're doing is not about them, it's about God. Primarily, when a pastor or a missionary understands that their whole purpose of missions is the love of God, that's why he's out there, The fear of God is all about the love of God. And so there is a sense in which we love God, and we don't want to do anything that will dishonor him. And out of that love, on the other hand, is that we fear God because of His wrath and we don't want to displease Him because of His wrath, His judgment.