Don't be afraid to see what you see. Ronald Reagan

When I was in High School, there was this joke going around about a baby bear sliding down a banister and yelling, "Radio!" I don't remember the rest of the joke - just the punch line. What I do remember is that the joke wasn't really a joke at all - it was just a pointless story made to make other people look foolish. 

It worked like this: A group of your fellow classmates would come up to you, telling you that they had just heard the funniest joke ever. Then, one of them would tell the joke, end it with the punch line, "Radio!" and everybody would laugh. You would laugh too for you didn't want to appear stupid.

Then, some one would say, "Did you get it?" to which you would reply something like, "Of course I did- that was the funniest joke ever!" Then they would ask you to tell what was so funny. When you couldn't come up with a reason (No one could because the joke was on you), all of your "friends" would laugh hysterically making you feel like the liar and idiot that they helped you to become. Then off you would go with this pack of morons to hopefully catch someone else with the same joke.

Peer pressure is funny, isn't it? Or maybe it's really not.

I sometimes shudder when I look back on my life and think of all of the stupid things I have done as a result of peer pressure. I'm glad that I'm older now, but I realize that peer pressure is just as strong, only the faces and names have changed. Now we have political correctness that attempts to force us to agree with some of the dumbest things.

Whether it's getting rid of our aerosol spray cans to save the planet, suspending little five year old girls for carrying pink, plastic squirt guns to school to protect their classmates, or ceasing to say prayers before football games to spare the feelings of atheists, peer pressure is still causing us to do silly things in the guise of our claiming to see "reason" behind the unreasonable actions of our peers.

But, the most serious area of peer pressure has always been in the way that men serve God. Whether it was Eve being enticed to eat of the forbidden fruit, people refusing to take Noah seriously when he was building the big boat, or the multitudes going along with their leader's call to crucify Jesus, people have always yielded to peer pressure when it comes to serving God.

So, if someone is trying to convince you to see something else - something that defies all common sense and logic, especially when it comes to God's word - it might be good to step back and think about why they are doing so. There will always be peer pressure, no matter how old we get. The trick for us is to have enough courage to stand in the face of that pressure and simply see what we can see.

Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have My Law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults. Isaiah 51:7, NIV