STANDING ALONE FOR GOD (6 OF 8)
by Roger Thomas
Scripture: GENESIS 6:5-9
This content is part of a series.
Standing Alone for God (6 of 8)
Series: The Beginnings
Roger Thomas
Genesis 6:5-9
Introduction: Nobody likes to be the only one! No one wants to be different. Teenagers don't! Senior citizens don't! I am sure Noah didn't.
Psychology books are filled with studies that demonstrate the power of peer pressure. One classic study involved a classroom of teenagers. On the board in the front of the class were three charts with a series of lines of varying lengths on each. The teacher instructed the students to each raise his or her hand when he pointed to the longest line on each chart. What one student didn't know was that the other nine had been instructed ahead of time to raise their hands for the next to the longest line. When the teacher pointed to the shorter line and nine students raised their hands choosing it as the longest line, the lone student would glance around, put his or her head down, and most of the time reluctantly raise his hand, even though it was obviously the wrong choice. The same result happened about seventy-five percent of the time. It was the same with young children or other teenagers.
Nobody wants to be the only one! Parents have all heard their teenagers say, "But every body's doing it?" And we've said back, "I don't care if everyone is doing it. You're not." Or the ultimate come back, "If everybody was jumping off a cliff, would you?" Advertising, media fads, fashion--all count on the fact that everybody wants to fit in. No one wants to stand alone.
None of us are exceptions. We like to think peer pressure only affects the young. We know better. How many times have some of us been in a restaurant with a group? Our normal pattern is to pray before meals. When the food comes, we look around to see what everyone else is doing. Everybody else digs right in. So we do too.
The conversation at work turns to a subject you are uncomfortable with. Perhaps an off-color jok ...
Series: The Beginnings
Roger Thomas
Genesis 6:5-9
Introduction: Nobody likes to be the only one! No one wants to be different. Teenagers don't! Senior citizens don't! I am sure Noah didn't.
Psychology books are filled with studies that demonstrate the power of peer pressure. One classic study involved a classroom of teenagers. On the board in the front of the class were three charts with a series of lines of varying lengths on each. The teacher instructed the students to each raise his or her hand when he pointed to the longest line on each chart. What one student didn't know was that the other nine had been instructed ahead of time to raise their hands for the next to the longest line. When the teacher pointed to the shorter line and nine students raised their hands choosing it as the longest line, the lone student would glance around, put his or her head down, and most of the time reluctantly raise his hand, even though it was obviously the wrong choice. The same result happened about seventy-five percent of the time. It was the same with young children or other teenagers.
Nobody wants to be the only one! Parents have all heard their teenagers say, "But every body's doing it?" And we've said back, "I don't care if everyone is doing it. You're not." Or the ultimate come back, "If everybody was jumping off a cliff, would you?" Advertising, media fads, fashion--all count on the fact that everybody wants to fit in. No one wants to stand alone.
None of us are exceptions. We like to think peer pressure only affects the young. We know better. How many times have some of us been in a restaurant with a group? Our normal pattern is to pray before meals. When the food comes, we look around to see what everyone else is doing. Everybody else digs right in. So we do too.
The conversation at work turns to a subject you are uncomfortable with. Perhaps an off-color jok ...
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