The "You Will Not Die" Lie, Part 2

How many people have you known who, when disaster was imminent, simply stuck their heads in the sand and ignored the impending catastrophe? Hurricanes and floods can have days of warning ahead of the events, and yet some people will decide to "stick it out" because they're convinced it won't be so bad. It's just like when the old serpent whispered in Eve's ear - "You will not surely die!"

This is called "linear thinking" or "the normalcy bias" - the frame of mind that people enter when facing a disaster. People with a normalcy bias have difficulty reacting to something they haven't experienced before. Perhaps they've lived through a category 2 hurricane, so they convince themselves that a category 5 hurricane won't be much worse. They also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.

You might have heard the joke about the man who jumped off the top of the Empire State Building: as he was passing the 34th floor, another man stuck his head out the window and said, "How's it going?" And the first guy replied, "So far, so good!" You can't outsmart gravity. That's "linear thinking" or "the normalcy bias" - the idea that the way things have been is the way they will continue to be. If I'm not dead yet, this means that whatever I do, I'll just continue on living.

The Psalmist wrote, "A senseless man doesn't know, neither does a fool understand this: Though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evil-doers flourish, they will be destroyed forever" (Psalm 92:6-7). The senseless or foolish person thinks, "I can keep on overeating, or smoking, or stealing, or lying, etc. because I'm not dead yet or haven't been caught yet." But then the laws of God, nature or society catch up with them.

As Christians, we can become discouraged when we see the rich and powerful of this world getting away with cheating or committing crimes and not being caught and punished. This has been going on for centuries:

"O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs, o God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth. Rise up, you judge of the earth. Pay back the proud what they deserve. O Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph? They pour out arrogant words. All the evil-doers boast. They break your people in pieces, O Lord, and afflict your heritage. They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless. They say, 'The Lord will not see, neither will Jacob's God consider'" (Psalm 94:1-7).

And then the Psalmist answers this dilemma: "Consider, you senseless among the people; you fools, when will you be wise? He who implanted the ear, won't He hear? He who formed the eye, won't He see? He who disciplines the nations, won't He punish? He who teaches man knows. The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile" (Psalm 94:8-11).

Social pressure has a huge influence on us adults as well, not just on teenagers feeling their hormones. When you're driving along at the 55 m.p.h. speed limit, literally all the other cars are passing you and there's a big SUV tailgating you, flashing its headlights, don't you feel pressured to speed up and just "go with the flow"? One little car against a whole stream of bigger cars doesn't stand a chance.

But let's say you're in the Army Reserves, and you're driving an APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) with 12 reservists in it, along with a convoy of other APCs and Army trucks along the same highway, going the 55 m.p.h. speed limit. Nobody - but NOBODY - honks their horns at you! This is why we need to form "thick" bonds in genuine Christian communities, as described in The Benedict Option, Rod Dreher's new bestseller book.

The motives of our heart are not hidden from God. He knows when we're not even trying to appear righteous, and especially when we're trying to appear righteous but actually, we're deceiving people. We can't deceive God. Sooner or later He catches us in our self-deceit. It's time to "face the music," to sincerely repent and change our ways.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 03 Apr. 2017.)