What Jesus Said About Peer Pressure
One day Jesus met a sick man. This man had suffered day in and day out for thirty-eight long years. Poor man. I wonder who had suffered with him. Who had wondered, “Will he have to suffer always? What can I do to help?”
Jesus knew exactly what to do. First, He asked him if he wanted help. Then, He healed him.
Some Pharisees got all in a tizzy because Jesus had healed the man on a Sabbath day. They could have:
- Rejoiced with the healed man.
- Praised God for his healing.
- Thanked Jesus for what He had done.
But, no, these legalistic, fault-finding men complained and condemned. Perhaps one or two of them had a twinge of conscience. Perhaps one or two felt happy for the man, or even gratitude for what Jesus had done. How hard it would have been, though, for those one or two to do anything different from the Pharisee status quo.
Many groups require their members to walk in lockstep. Members of those groups live under powerful peer pressure to conform. Are you ever tempted to conform to the world when you make decisions about your children? Remember what Paul told the Christians in Rome:
And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
so that you may prove what the will of God is,
that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
Don’t give in to the adult peer pressure that tells you that if you don’t conform you will ruin your children. We’ve all heard about the problems of peer pressure in teenagers. I think that much of the peer pressure that teenagers experience is actually the result of adult peer pressure. Too often we parents are afraid of being different from other parents. We are afraid to let our children be different from other children – even if God calls us to be different – even if being different will be better for our children.
It’s fine if clover blossoms standing in a patch all look the same. Folks are different — young folks, older folks, all folks. Folks need to step out from the crowd and follow the footsteps of Jesus instead of walking lockstep with the world. Remember what God told the Christians in Corinth:
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.
1 Corinthians 3:19