Cognitive Dissonance

According to Wikipedia, “Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. [We] do this by changing [our] attitudes, beliefs, and actions.” According to the writers, “it is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology.”

It’s quite interesting. They use, as an example, the story of the fox and the grapes (one of Aesop’s fables). You may recall that one - the fox tries and tries but he just can’t quite reach the grapes. So what is he to do? His solution - he decides that he didn’t really want the grapes anyway! According to the article, the fox’s decision is a form of ‘adaptive preference formation’ which is ‘designed to reduce cognitive dissonance’.

The article also says that other attempts to deal with dissonance include ‘justifying, blaming, and denying.’

I’m not sure if I ever really thought about this before but I’m thinking that in a weird kind of way these rather despicable strategies actually testify to a loss of great human dignity. Ironically, behind it all must be an innate and powerful felt need to be just, right and true! We were made to be whole. You have to admit that this is pretty ironic stuff. We actually have an innate compulsion to be, or to at least feel - virtuous. The only thing is, we will now lie to ourselves, or anyone else for that matter, to feel that way!

Pretty twisted eh! But it does confirm the biblical account. Not only have we fallen a long way, but from a truly great height. Originally made in the very image of God, we now find ourselves depraved. We really need Jesus.

The Rhythm of Life

I really had to restrain myself from entitling this post something like ‘Pausability Thinking’, or ‘The Importance of Good Pauseture’, or ‘Pause and Effect’ or … but I knew that some of you wouldn’t appreciate the humor in it (accept Denis maybe). This past week I found myself thinking about that little word – ‘pause’. Apparently it comes from the Greek word ‘pausis’ which meant to ‘stop’ or ‘cease’. The website yourdictionary.com has “a short period of inaction; temporary stop, break, or rest”. I like that definition because the distinction between a pause and a stop is that the word pause denotes the temporary nature of the act assuming a latter continuance of the former. And that is so true to life. We don’t stop. Life never stops this side of the grave (nor after for those who have eternal life!). We don’t stop working, we rest. And we don’t really stop to pray because prayer is always in the context of life activity which goes on because life goes on.

Life has movement but that movement is not as much constant as it is rhythmic. Life pulsates. Even before God made the sun, the evening and the morning were the first day. (Gen 1:3) And the seasons of the year create a sense of rhythm. I love how God told Noah after the great flood that while the earth remains seed time and harvest will not cease. (By the way, that means that Spring is coming; God said so.)

Musicians must realize the importance of a pause in music. They call them ‘rests’. Comedians know when you miss them it’s really not that funny. Other public speakers talk not only about the ‘pause’ but the ‘pregnant pause’. Barack Obama is said to be a master of it. Even so, the art of life involves recognizing when a pause is called for. We need to learn to pause in order to live well.

God felt it important enough that He made a pause (‘rest’) one of the ten commandments! Think about that. So, how are you doing with that? Are you learning the importance of pausing?

Small Groups

As of this week, after months of planning, we are now into our big annual winter small group series. Exciting! And so I thought I’d like to post these thoughts about the small group dynamic as it relates to our lives as Christians.

Now, I know that some of you are tempted to stop reading at this point. Either you don’t find the subject of small groups exciting at all, or you already know all about it so what is there to say. Well, let me go on record – we NEED to talk about it and we NEED to get excited about it. Why? Because significant life change happens in small groups. And life change is what church is all about.

As I think about our lives together as His church, I am acutely aware as a pastor that the quality of our lives and the degree of effectiveness in our serving is at issue. So much of Christianity at times has become little more than showing up on Sunday mornings for an hour to do my religious duty. How it must grieve the heart of God that such apathy would ever seem sufficient to us. God wants to do a significant work in your life and mine, changing us and growing us. That work is to be ongoing and, as those belonging to Christ, we are to intentionally pursue it. And for that type of real personal growth to be occurring, we NEED each others help. Read that again – we NEED each others help.

This is not optional. It isn’t just that we do better when we are assisting each other with spiritual growth. Real significant personal development requires this group dynamic. We NEED to be opening up our lives to one another. We NEED to benefit from the shared experience of learning together. We NEED to hear each others stories. We NEED to be speaking into each others lives. We NEED to be confessing to one another and praying with one another and encouraging one another. If this does not happen for us then we will NOT grow the way we should in our personal lives for Him. It really is that straightforward.

Do yourself a huge favour some time and look up the phrase ‘one another’ in a Bible concordance (you can do that online at biblegateway.com) and allow the Word of God to give you an overview of the full range of life together that is His plan for your life.

Small groups are not just an ‘add-on’. The small group dynamic is a critical aspect of our journey together for Him. So share the journey.

On The Road Again

The TV show ‘The Littlest Hobo’ has got to be one of the longest airing shows on television. I noticed it was on the other day and I remember watching it when I was a kid. I loved it. I hated it. How can you not love a story about a dog, especially a dog that can fix everyone’s problems and catch the bad guys every week! And it is Canadian. But my problem with the show was, and is, that at the end of every episode he leaves the people who have come to love him and heads off down the road! I can remember feeling sad at the end of every episode. I hate that.

I don’t know if we have hobos today as there used to be years ago … traveling the rail lines … sleeping in box cars … but it is a very interesting phenomenon to me - people who just keep moving on, never settling down, never belonging. It really is sad when you think about it isn’t it!

I feel the same way about people who say they believe in Jesus Christ but see no need to be a part of a church family. It could be fear. It could be selfishness. Or it could be that they just don’t feel the need. Whatever the case, it is sad. Not only are they missing out, even though they don’t know it. But the cause of Jesus suffers as well. After all, it isn’t just our need that warrants our involvement. What about the needs of others? It should not be only the consideration of how I can benefit from being actively involved in a church that governs my decision on the matter anyway, but also what benefit I can be to others.

Which begs another question. If we are actively involved in a church family, is it for the right reasons? Are we involved only for what we get from it. Or are we envisioning the difference we can make in the lives of others?

And if you’re one of those people who aren’t involved like you should be, perhaps you need to recognize that there is a spiritual issue here. A rolling stone might not gather any moss, but look out if the stones in your spiritual house start to roll.

There’s a voice that keeps on calling me
Down the road is where I’ll always be
Every stop I make, I’ll make a new friend
Can’t stay for long, just turn around and I’m gone again.
Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.