Going Along With the Crowd

Have you ever seen a group of folks put down or pick on another person?

If you take a close look at the group you will usually find a leader or two and a bunch of followers. Many times the followers just want to be a part of the in-crowd. They don’t agree with the leaders, but they do want to be a part of the group. They go along with whatever the leaders do to be a part. Often they live to regret it.

What side of the group have you found yourself sitting? Usually you won’t get to sit on the fence long. You must choose.

You may know this type of thinking well. At some point when you were growing up your excuse to you mother was probably, “But Johnny does it.” Her reply was probably, “If Johnny jumped off a cliff would you follow?”

I have not ever quite been able to wrap my mind around the group mentality thing. It never quite took hold in my personality. Perhaps my mother is to blame. She certainly never bought it as an excuse. She held me accountable regardless of what Johnny did.

I think we are all born with herd mentality or the propensity for it. Perhaps we feel safety in numbers. Perhaps some folks were never held personally accountable for their decisions.

Perhaps we just want the praise of men. To that we are all susceptible.

Are you motivated by money? Are you motivated by power? The praise of men can be just as motivating. Unfortunately, whatever motivates you can also serve as a handle to control you.

Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
John 12:42-43

This love of the praise of men is an old story that still gets told today. For the love of the praise of men people are bribed. For the love of the praise of men people keep silent. For the love of the praise of men groups follow the wrong leader. For the love of the praise of men many a bad decision is made.

When you care what people think more than what God thinks you are in trouble. Much of the emotional torment people have suffered over the years has its roots in just that mentality. People-pleasing is a fulltime job with very little reward and no vacations. When you care what other people think you will live for them instead of living for God.

If you love the praise of men more than the praise of God, God is no longer really your God. Is He?

LIFE APPLICATION

Today’s challenge is to break free of the people-pleasing mindset. If you are a people pleaser, ask God to free you from that. Ask God to help you to keep your focus on pleasing Him instead. Ask God to show you how the praise of men has controlled your actions in the past.

If you are not someone who seeks the praise of men, ask God to show you if anything else has control over you.