“You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you are called to testify in a dispute, do not be swayed by the crowd to twist justice.” (Exodus 23:2, NLT)
When I was young, it was common for children who wanted to get their way to plead their case using the following words: “But Dad! Everyone’s doing it!” There were other sayings closely aligned to this that we would throw at our parents to manipulate them: “But Charlie’s mom said it was Okay!”; “If I don’t get those clothes, I’ll never fit in!”; “Don’t you want people at school to like me?”. In thousands of little ways, children learn what buttons to push to manipulate others. And, the more adept that children get in their manipulations, the worse they tend to behave.
Children are not the only ones who try to manipulate others. Society is full of Political Action Committees, Social-Justice Warriors, Advocacy groups, political parties, Associations, and many other organizations whose sole purpose is to push an agenda to manipulate an outcome. There are many places in this world where people don’t want justice or fairness or what is right. They often want what’s best for them. Some people are willing to go a long way to bend you to their will.
“A few years ago, psychologist Ruth W. Berenda and her associates carried out an interesting experiment with teenagers designed to show how a person handled group pressure. The plan was simple. They brought groups of ten adolescents into a room for a test. Subsequently, each group of ten was instructed to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the longest line on three separate charts. What one person in the group did not know was that nine of the others in the room had been instructed ahead of time to vote for the second-longest line.”
“Regardless of the instructions they heard, once they were all together in the group, the nine were not to vote for the longest line, but rather vote for the next to the longest line. The experiment began with nine teenagers voting for the wrong line. The stooge would typically glance around, frown in confusion, and slip his hand up with the group. The instructions were repeated, and the next card was raised. Time after time, the self-conscious stooge would sit there saying a short line is longer than a long line, simply because he lacked the courage to challenge the group. This remarkable conformity occurred in about 75% of the cases and was true of small children and high-school students as well. Berenda concluded that, "Some people had rather be president than right," which is certainly an accurate assessment.” (Chuck Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, p. 225)
What would get you to follow the crowd down a wrong path? Would peer pressure? Would financial pressure? Would threats of intimidation work against you? Just as children often find the best buttons to push against their parents to get their way, the world will find methods to mold and fit you into its beliefs and live in sin. Are you willing to stand up for the truth, for God, for what is right by God?
The scripture for today addresses the pressures of this world that conspire to make you side with what is wrong. It was written way back in the days of Moses but applies very adequately to today. This scripture from Exodus contains a warning to those who wanted to follow God’s law. It is a warning about justice and fairness in life as well as in a court of law. This law of God commands that you never “follow the crowd in doing wrong” (Exodus 23:2). When you are a witness in a dispute and called to testify before others, you are “not to be swayed by the crowd to twist justice”. You are to speak the truth before God and others. You are commanded by this law of God never to follow the crowd, and in so doing, falsify the truth.
There are many people in the world who follow the crowd. They are swayed by polls or social media trends. They determine right and wrong not by the law of God, but by the fickle ideals of what is popular at the time. They judge good and bad by fads or by who has the most influence. Wherever right and wrong are fluid, justice cannot be upheld. Courts will be swayed by money and power and sentiment. Judges will decide base on political motivations. The law will be perverted.
How well do you stand up for God’s law and what is right in the eyes of God? Are you apt to side with whomever has the most influence? Do your words and attitudes change depending on who is listening? God expects you to know right from wrong, good from evil, faithful from faithless. If you never stand up for God’s truth and true justice, especially in the face of political and social pressures, you will never know what it really means to be a child of God.
Children are not the only ones who try to manipulate others. Society is full of Political Action Committees, Social-Justice Warriors, Advocacy groups, political parties, Associations, and many other organizations whose sole purpose is to push an agenda to manipulate an outcome. There are many places in this world where people don’t want justice or fairness or what is right. They often want what’s best for them. Some people are willing to go a long way to bend you to their will.
“A few years ago, psychologist Ruth W. Berenda and her associates carried out an interesting experiment with teenagers designed to show how a person handled group pressure. The plan was simple. They brought groups of ten adolescents into a room for a test. Subsequently, each group of ten was instructed to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the longest line on three separate charts. What one person in the group did not know was that nine of the others in the room had been instructed ahead of time to vote for the second-longest line.”
“Regardless of the instructions they heard, once they were all together in the group, the nine were not to vote for the longest line, but rather vote for the next to the longest line. The experiment began with nine teenagers voting for the wrong line. The stooge would typically glance around, frown in confusion, and slip his hand up with the group. The instructions were repeated, and the next card was raised. Time after time, the self-conscious stooge would sit there saying a short line is longer than a long line, simply because he lacked the courage to challenge the group. This remarkable conformity occurred in about 75% of the cases and was true of small children and high-school students as well. Berenda concluded that, "Some people had rather be president than right," which is certainly an accurate assessment.” (Chuck Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, p. 225)
What would get you to follow the crowd down a wrong path? Would peer pressure? Would financial pressure? Would threats of intimidation work against you? Just as children often find the best buttons to push against their parents to get their way, the world will find methods to mold and fit you into its beliefs and live in sin. Are you willing to stand up for the truth, for God, for what is right by God?
The scripture for today addresses the pressures of this world that conspire to make you side with what is wrong. It was written way back in the days of Moses but applies very adequately to today. This scripture from Exodus contains a warning to those who wanted to follow God’s law. It is a warning about justice and fairness in life as well as in a court of law. This law of God commands that you never “follow the crowd in doing wrong” (Exodus 23:2). When you are a witness in a dispute and called to testify before others, you are “not to be swayed by the crowd to twist justice”. You are to speak the truth before God and others. You are commanded by this law of God never to follow the crowd, and in so doing, falsify the truth.
There are many people in the world who follow the crowd. They are swayed by polls or social media trends. They determine right and wrong not by the law of God, but by the fickle ideals of what is popular at the time. They judge good and bad by fads or by who has the most influence. Wherever right and wrong are fluid, justice cannot be upheld. Courts will be swayed by money and power and sentiment. Judges will decide base on political motivations. The law will be perverted.
How well do you stand up for God’s law and what is right in the eyes of God? Are you apt to side with whomever has the most influence? Do your words and attitudes change depending on who is listening? God expects you to know right from wrong, good from evil, faithful from faithless. If you never stand up for God’s truth and true justice, especially in the face of political and social pressures, you will never know what it really means to be a child of God.