Articles
The Ubiquitous "Everybody"
What is the common denominator?
Ø The mass of humanity that died in the flood because of their flagrant wickedness.
Ø The multitude that conspired to build the tower of Babel.
Ø The report of the ten spies that Canaan was unconquerable.
Ø Ahab’s counselors who rubberstamped his war with Syria.
Ø The princes, priests and prophets who dogged Jeremiah every step of his prophetic ministry.
Ø The Jewish Sanhedrin which rejected both John and Jesus.
Ø The Roman Empire, which under various emperors, ruthlessly persecuted Christianity.
Answer: They were all in the majority, and they were all wrong.
Humans crave social acceptance. We fear ostracism and exclusion; ridicule and rejection; shunning and isolation. This vulnerability can create a “pack mentality,” a willingness to side with the majority no matter how deviant it might be.
Humanistic social scientists and psychologists assert that these are coping mechanisms which have evolved to foster our survival as a species. The true explanation is that God has made us social creatures in His image and for legitimate reasons, but like any other trait God has instilled in humanity what is good can be corrupted to serve the purposes of evil.
It is a knee-jerk reaction to justify ourselves with “everybody does it” (or thinks it, or approves of it). No matter how often the majority has been proven wrong, there is a powerful pull toward siding with it. No matter how many times political and/or social polling gets it wrong, nearly every news article includes some poll to justify its conclusions.
Culturally, people are drawn to the popular: “everybody’s wearing it”; “everybody’s driving it”; “everybody’s watching it”; etc. On the one hand people say they want to be unique and independent; on the other hand the same people gravitate toward the views/behavior of their neighbors, co-workers and friends – or even celebrities and internet influencers. Why this self-imposed pressure to conform to the norms of the masses?
First, social monitors refer to something called FOMO: fear of missing out. When everyone else has it, wears it, watches it, etc. we instinctively think that they have found something of value that we have missed. Thus we can be drawn to entertainers, sports, investments, clothing – anything marketable – merely because others value it (whether we actually do or not; I’ve seen certain fashion trends that make me think, “That CANNOT be comfortable,” but comfort isn’t really the issue).
Second, we don’t want to appear to be out of step, backward, “uncool” (as we old-timers used to say). We’re afraid of being “judged” because our technology is antiquated; our clothing isn’t up to date or has the wrong logo. Conversely, if we feel our outlook is more enlightened or cutting edge we virtue signal by the car we drive or the flag we fly. In either case we crave the attention, approval and admiration of others.
Third, when the “experts” all agree that the earth is 4.5 billion years old; that the Big Bang occurred 13.5 billion years ago; that homo sapiens’ ancestors used to drag their knuckles, grunt like a pig and forage for food in “hunter-gatherer” mode – who am I as a Bible-believing, God-fearing, non-PhD holding simpleton to push back? We don’t want to be made a fool when our common sense observations don’t have a peer-reviewed study to support them, so we just quietly acquiesce to academia. If we are overly sensitive to the voice of “experts,” then we make ourselves vulnerable to gaslighting – the effort to make us believe something different than what we know to be true.
But people do not only join the secular herd; those who consider themselves to be religious often do the same thing. Whether it is the smooth-talking, Rolex-wearing, Citation jet-flying televangelist; or the mega-church with theater seating or rock concerts that masquerade as worship; or church campus facilities with ATMs, fast food franchises, gymnasiums/spas/bookstores and other worldly amenities, people are drawn to the status quo. Like lemmings, people join the crowd because everyone is running in the same direction – not realizing that they are en masse hurtling toward a cliff. (I realize this is a myth and an insult to lemmings, but it’s too useful an illustration to pass up.)
The lack of deep conviction makes us vulnerable to manipulation. Five days before He died, Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem by adoring throngs (Mt 21:1-17). By Friday morning “the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus” (Mt 27:20). When societal winds blow, the uncommitted are carried to places they never thought they would go, and they often go in a crowd.
Suggestions:
1. Get comfortable with being on the outside looking in: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers … Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you” (2 Cor 6:14, 17). God calls us to stand against a world that rejects His reality, moral standards and ultimate judgment.
2. Parents, teach your children to desire what is godly, sensible and purposeful, not what is merely popular. Steel them against fads, trends, peer pressure; condition them to value what God thinks of them and warn them that mass media, academia and others in authoritative positions often have ungodly agendas and objectives: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father …” (1 Jn 2:15-16).
3. Resist the constantly changing standards of the world and build your life on solid ground: “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (Mt 7:24-25).
