Step Over The Line

Psychology can teach us a great many things, and my psycology class has taught me more than it probably intended. You see lately we've been talking about why people conform and why they allow other people to influence their actions. We learned about three different experiments that are aimed at answereing this, and one of them involved having someone shock another person for every incorrect answer they gave. Now the other person was not actually shocked but the test subject believed it was actually happening. During this test 65% of the people continued shocking the 'learner' until they reached the maximum voltage of 450. To me this is increadible, I would have never shocked the other person in the first place and seeing that so many people went all the way with it is mind blowing.

Some of you may be thinking, why in the world are you telling me all this? Whats the point of this psychology lesson? Well it got me thinking about how as Christians we let the opinions of the world affect us. The bible says in Romans 12:2 "Do not conform to the pattern of this world." this is telling us that we are in the world but not of the world. If we allow the world to influence us then what good are we doing for God? If we dress, act, and talk like the world then what example are we showing for Him? We must be set apart and act in the fashion God wishes us to. Only then can we make a difference and shine our light to others who need it.

Have you ever heard the song Cross the Line by Superchick? The opening lines of this song say this, "Follow the leader, stay in the lines. What will people think of what you've done this time. Go with the crowd surely someone knows why we're all wearing the emperors cloths." The song then goes on to say that we should "cross the line" Its telling us that we need to break out of the preconceived ideas that society places on us and not to worry about what others think. We need to step out and stand up for God instead of "wearing the emperors cloths" In the story of the Emperor's New Cloths the Emperor is tricked into wearing nothing thinking its actually a magic outfit, and all of his subjects conform to this belief because they don't want to be stupid or speak out because they fear how others will view them.

Are you letting your fear of other peoples thoughts keep you from speaking out for God? Are you letting that fear keep you from standing up for Him or telling someone else about Jesus's saving grace? Or have you let the world change you and make you say or do things that aren't Godly? Are you 'shocking' your friends and family or are you standing up for what you believe in and making an impact for God? Step over the line and stand up for God. I dare you.