We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.
— 1 Thessalonians 2:4
Em Griffin, in his book The Mind Changers, describes an experiment in which groups of 12 people were brought into a room. On the wall of the room, four lines of differing lengths were displayed, and the subjects were asked to vote publicly which two lines were the same length.
The key, however, was that 11 of the participants had been told to give the same obviously incorrect answer to try to throw off the one who was in the dark on the experiment. So when they voted publicly, person after person chose the same wrong answer, having been told to do so.
The one individual who was in the dark couldn’t imagine how in the world all these seemingly normal people could all choose the obviously incorrect answer. But when it was his or her turn to vote, the decision had to be made, “Do I go with my senses, or do I go with the crowd?” And one-third of the subjects caved in to group pressure and changed their vote to agree with their peers, even though they knew it was wrong.
It can be easy to fall into the way the world thinks, even when we know it’s not right. But it’s in those times that we must remember we’re also part of a test—a test of faithfulness to our God. Stay strong in the face of peer pressure and you’ll pass the test of faith!
Prayer Challenge
Pray that God would give you the power to pass the test of faith when you’re pressured to fall into the world’s thinking.
Questions for Thought
When’s the last time you were tempted to fall into the world’s pattern of thinking? How did it turn out?
What’s one way you can stay committed to the truth when others tell you to go another way?