Category Archives: Sermons Preached

In the 1950s Solomon Asch (pronounced ash) conducted a series of social psychology studies to determine how people conform to group peer pressure. Asch had a PhD in psychology, and taught at Swarthmore College and Harvard University. Dr Asch wanted to see how peer pressure would cause someone to conform to the majority opinion even when that opinion was obviously wrong. Dr Asch asked an individual to take part in a vision test. The test subject was placed in a group of 7-9 people, but here’s the rub:

Only one person was being tested.

The other participants were actors that Dr Asch employed, and they were supposed to purposely agree to give a wrong answer. The participants were shown cards with one standard line, and three comparison lines labeled “A”, “B”, and “C”. The participants were asked to specify which of the comparison lines looked like the standard line. Very simple. Dr Asch would ask the participants which line matched, one at a time, and would always ask the test subject last. When the first few cards were shown, both the actors and the participant (who didn’t know the others were actors) all answered correctly. Then the actors intentionally began to give the same wrong answer. At first, the test subject stood against the group, and answered correctly. But after the first or second disagreement, the test subject – about 75% of the time – would conform to what the actors said. Only about 25% of those tested refused to give a wrong answer in order to please the group. This only mattered in open discussion in the group. When secret ballots were taken, conformity to the group dropped.

Recently Senator Josh Hawley questioned Dr. Nisha Verma, a board certified OB/GYN, asking her simply (and about 10 times) “Can men get pregnant?”. She refused to answer the question. The Senator asked her:

“It’s not complex. I’m trying to get to an answer, and I’m trying to test, frankly, your veracity as a medical professional and as a scientist, can men get pregnant?”

She refused to answer, but verbally danced around the question. Why?

Because we live in a dark, sin addled world. Jesus said, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). He said, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believes in Me will not abide in darkness” (John 12:46).

When someone comes to Jesus and gives their life to Him, He “sets them free from slavery to sin” (Romans 6:17-18, 20; Titus 3:3). Believers do not become sinless, but to us sin is abnormal, not normal. Jesus knew that when He sent us into the world that the believer would be at odds with the unbeliever. Jesus told us:

Matthew 10:34-36 (ESV) Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And A PERSON’S ENEMIES WILL BE THOSE OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD. Continue reading →