God isn’t bound by “group think” or popular trends… Why? Because groups often can move away from God altogether… even without realizing it.
Vee and I gave our lives to Christ back when we turned 21. We’ve been in the church for 30 years now, and we’ve seen several popular cultural fads come and go. Even in Christian circles, we’ve seen “movements of God”… come and go. In each movement, we’ve seen the waves of excitement brew, only to lose steam after a few years. The Prayer of Jabez, Growing Kids God’s Way, Passion Movement, Acquire the Fire, Wild at Heart, WWJD, Purpose Driven Life, Promise Keepers, the Emergent Church, Passion of the Christ, Bethel, etc… And this is just in the past 25 years.
Don’t get me wrong, some of these movements have been encouraging and life changing for many. They have been used to sow seeds and reap harvests of believers. Yet, most have since come and gone. Many will be replaced by new fads that will also come and go.
Where am I going with this?
I want to be careful here to not sound calloused or jaded. Some of these movements started out with a clear desire to worship the God of Scripture and Jesus himself. When Promise Keepers began in the early 90s, it started with some well known and respected men who wanted men from all over the country to hear the Gospel and do right by their families. Nothing wrong with that. By the mid-90s, Promise Keepers had seen a seismic shift in its thinking and its leadership. It became all about the events and brought in a much more diversified staff of teachers–teachers who had no clue about the nature of the Gospel. I attended one such event in Kansas City. Yikes!
We’re all searching for those mondo Acts 2 movements. But, we can become so consumed with the momentum that we lose sight of the shift taking place within the movement.
What does this mean?
It means that movement and momentum isn’t always a God thing. Sometimes God might show up among only a few while the rest of us are so wrapped up in a “movement” that we miss Him altogether.
Sometimes, I wonder if we’re more excited about the movement than we are about God in the movement.
This is not only true of us, this was also true of many first century Jews. While their “movements” we’re lasting much longer, they still had movements that steered them away from God—so much so, that when God showed up, they missed Him. Moreover, when God spoke up, they killed him.
Isaiah was spot on when he said that the well anticipated Messiah of Israel would be completely rejected by the very people who were waiting for him. Isaiah said it this way:
Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed to us by his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.
— Isaiah 53:1-6
What’s happening here? Paul is building his case before the Berean elders to explain how Messiah needed to be rejected by Israel and be killed for his ministry. This is contrary to the false belief that Messiah would simply swoop down and start immediately reigning over Israel. That’s what Jewish leadership in the first Century was expecting and teaching. It is also one of the primary reasons… there were others… that those in Jewish leadership outright rejected Messiah as well as the prophet that would introduce him as Messiah. Of course, I am referring to the ministries of Jesus and John the Baptizer. Those in leadership rejected both John and Jesus alike, even though the general populous overwhelmingly favored them.
Yes, there are some other reasons, that go beyond theology, for the rejection from those in Jewish leadership. While I won’t be able share too much here, I do wish to point out the issue of infrastructure, rising within the ranks of an infrastructure, and the concept of “group think”.
To explain the ideas of infrastructure and “group think”, suppose you work for a company that has been around and has offered a good product for a long time now. You have liked the product, you have enjoyed working for the company, and you get paid well for working there.
Over the years, the company has had its ups and downs and has changed leadership on a few occasions. For the most part, they have weathered the storms pretty well. However, the industry has changed and competing against newer industry players has become a challenge. Seeing sales diminish over time, you discover that something needs to be done about your product. You raise the flag and try to help your own people to see the problem, but you’re met with some abrasive feedback, especially from mid-level management. “You’re out of line.” You hear on more than occasion. “This isn’t your concern.”
So, when a colleague comes up with a great idea that you think will revolutionize the industry and place your company back on top, you start sharing the idea to your superiors. But, they don’t have the time or the interest to give to it. Furthermore, they are managers and not visionary product developers. So, the idea doesn’t go up the chain of command. You value the company, but you also see the writing on the wall if something doesn’t change. What do you do? Do you just ride things out, hoping to keep your job for as long as you can? Do you not speak out and share the idea, only to just let it pass by the wayside? What do you do when nobody will give you a hearing, especially when it’s not your place to share? You don’t have the pedigree, the letters of certification, and neither does your colleague. You haven’t risen within the trusted ranks that are effectively geared by a system of processes. No, stick to your job and continue to do it well. That’s your calling.
So, you and your colleague decide to test his product on the side. As you expected, it appears to be a game changer. Your demonstrations garner support from the Average Joes within your company… without the leadership’s consent. Uh oh… Yeah, uh oh is right. You get “buy in” from many of the staff. They love the idea and the prototype.
Eventually, leadership hears about what is happening. They aren’t pleased… at all. So, here’s the challenge: You and your visionary colleague are trying to save the company, but those who positionally outrank you are not pleased with the rumblings of how your product is taking flight. They think your actions are usurping their authority. They are far more concerned about your disobedience to stay the course and do your job. After all, it was never your place to offer this.
Hopefully, this begins to paint a picture. Neither Jesus nor John had official rabbinical training. It doesn’t mean they didn’t know what they were talking about. It just means they weren’t raised through the Jewish leadership track. So, when the opportunity arose to herald the Messiah, many in Jewish leadership stood greatly opposed because Jesus wasn’t trained by them. Getting “buy in” without having the pedigree wouldn’t be possible. While many among the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, the priests, the Sanhedrin members and Romans didn’t like each other… They liked Jesus and John less.
In instances like these, “group think” is fairly easy to see. In many cases, those in mid-level management who have their own ambitions of climbing the ranks within the established infrastructure simply won’t wish to work outside of the lines defined within their training. You do as you have been trained to do. They will tow their respective lines because they wish to be promoted to higher levels of leadership. Whatever the most senior level of leadership prescribes, these mid-level managers are apt to blindly follow simply due to their desire for personal promotion. So, when a player with a radical idea comes into sight, the established leaders immediately feel threatened and will reject both the idea and the player. With such rejection, it isn’t uncommon for these leaders to “circle the wagons” and team up to deal with the threat.
No longer is it about the brilliance of an idea. It’s simply about getting rid of the rogue individual who hasn’t “paid his dues” as we have.
So, what happens when God chooses to bypass the human devised infrastructure to bring about his Messiah? Just like the other prophets who were condemned by their own countrymen, Messiah was also condemned, rejected, and even tortured to the point of death. Yet God chose this to be the very way to reconcile a condemning humanity with himself. Crazy, right?
Well, that’s all for today. May you be encouraged to do some digging of your own and discover how Jesus’ rejection would result in life to those who receive him.