When I joined a popular social media network, it was thrilling to reconnect with friends. We swapped messages and fortified our cyber- connection by joining each other’s causes, comparing quiz results, and exchanging virtual hugs. After a while, I felt the pressure of staying plugged into the website so that I could respond to each message.
Going along with the crowd isn’t necessarily a bad thing, unless our actions contradict God’s law. David had to decide whether to follow the advice of his peers or honor God in a critical situation. He and his fellow soldiers (and probably some large spiders!) were hiding from King Saul in the back of a cave—for Saul had been stalking David, intending to murder him.
Incredibly, Saul wandered into the same cavern. David’s peers, having been incessantly chased, understandably whispered: “Now’s your opportunity. . . . Today, the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish’ ” (1 Samuel 24:4). David’s friends tried to influence him by telling him what they thought God was saying. But David said, “[God] forbid that I should . . . attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord Himself has chosen him” (1 Samuel 24:6).
When David opted for God’s influence rather than that of his friends’, the cat and mouse game ended without bloodshed. Saul actually cried and confessed to David, “You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil” (1 Samuel 24:17).
The next time you’re being pressured into a bad decision, and your friends say, “Just go for it,” don’t. Instead, consider how it—whatever it is—lines up with God’s standards for Christian living (Ephesians 5:1-4). Listen to God’s voice and honor Him rather than earthly allies.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Esther 5:1-14
More:
Read Galatians 1:10 to see how winning the approval of others may affect our service for Christ. Read 1 Thessalonians 2:4 for Paul’s pointers on dealing with peers.
Next:
How might fellowship with other Christians create “positive” peer pressure? Consider the influences in your life. Which ones are consistent with God’s Word, and which oppose it? Why?
sheridan voysey on May 7, 2012 at 4:42 am
Thanks Jennifer. Each community has its ‘norms’ and I’m often surprised at what norms emerge from social media. Your message is broader than that, of course, and it holds true – some norms, whatever the community, are not to be followed in devotion to Christ.
jennifer benson schuldt on May 14, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Sheridan, I agree. This topic reminds me of Paul’s words: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” When we are following God and allowing Him to determine the way we think, we can honor Him no matter what kind of pressure comes from outside influences.
ehdlive on June 2, 2012 at 10:50 am
Pleasing God sometimes means, doing what is unpopular …