Following the Herd

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters says the LORD Almighty.” – 2 Corinthians 6:16-17 NKJV.

Mira Loma High seniors celebrated with their prom at the Sacramento Grand Ballroom. One of the seniors at the prom came up with the idea of trying to find out how many people can be crammed into an elevator. A chaperone did hear one of the kids talking about this, and it brought back memories of trying to do the same with the VW Beetle. They were able to squeeze 24 seniors into the elevator, but then someone had the brilliant idea of taking the elevator up to the next floor. The elevator immediately became stuck between floors, and as one student reported it was hot and hectic, since they did not know what was going on. One of the girls was claustrophobic, but thankfully no one was injured seriously. It took two hours before firefighters finally found a way to rescue these teens from their self-imposed nightmare. I guess that’s why they have those load limits posted on most elevators!

The elevator fiasco was a result of following the herd, everyone else was doing it, so they got into the elevator too. If there had been room for 50 people on the elevator, 26 more would have tried to crowd in. Following the herd has been a problem for people for as long as there have been people. The snake tempted Eve, and she ate of the forbidden fruit. Eve gave Adam some of the fruit, and he ate of it too, and if there had been a few more people back then they would probably all have eaten of it even though God had told them not to do it.

Following the herd is hard to avoid, because of the peer pressure. When teens are at a party and alcohol is available will they drink it, or will they not? When other teens are engaging in immoral behavior will they follow the rest? When the drugs are passed around will they take them, or will they refuse? When others are cheating on their homework will they take the easy way too? I think that God would tell those contemplating such things to, “come out from among them….” Of course, adults have problems with following the herd too.

How can you avoid the following the herd trap? By deciding ahead of time that you will not be a part of anything that will dishonor your God. Decide now, that you will not be a part of anything that will endanger the lives of others or your own. If you wait until the moment that you are confronted with an immoral choice to make up your mind you will make yourself much more susceptible to making the wrong choice. Decide now, not later, that you are going to be God’s man or God’s woman, and that you will make a stand for what is right no matter what those around you may think. In the long run, you will never regret doing what is right. So, “come out from among them….”