The Downfall of Peer-Pressure

by Pastor Timothy Fortune

In my morning devotions I have been reading through the Gospel of John. A few mornings back I was reading in chapter twelve regarding the events that happened after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, on what is now called Palm Sunday. As Jesus made His entry the crowds were very large because Lazarus had just been raised from the dead. Which, this brings up an interesting point; were they following Jesus because they believed He was the Christ or just to be entertained by signs and wonders as if Jesus were a master illusionist of that day? Putting this into perspective are we as believers, today, serving the Lord for what we can obtain or is our heart truly focused on Jesus as the redeemer of humanity and are committed unto Him regardless of the cost?

In verse forty-three and forty-four of chapter twelve in the Gospel of John, we read how many of the Jewish Leaders believed in Jesus as the Christ. Whether they believed because of the miracles Jesus preformed or because they saw the Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah being fulfilled, we do not know, but one thing is for certain many of them did believe in Jesus as the Christ. This is where the story gets sad because when you continue to read you see those leaders, who believed in Jesus, not confessing their faith in Jesus. They feared they would be put out of the Synagogue if they confessed their faith in Jesus also, they loved the praises of men more than the praises of God (Jn 12.43) These Jewish Leaders believed in Christ but because of the pressure of those in the Synagogue and their love of praise by men they would not confess their faith in Jesus.

This makes me wonder, how many people truly believe in Jesus as the Christ today but do not confess their faith in Him because of fear of losing there statues in the community, job, or other social clicks? Or they do not confess their faith because of their love of being praised by man instead of God? Let’s look a little closer to home, how many of us who are professed believers in Christ, have not confessed our faith while we were in a situation because we feared men’s disapproval or did not want to lose a place with-in the “crowd?”

The Bible says that if we believe with our heart and confess with our mouth we will be saved (Rom 10.9-10). Confessing, I believe, is not just a one time event but rather a continual confession throughout ones life. This does not mean that if I don’t confess Jesus while I am standing around the water-cooler at work then I am not saved but rather I just missed an opportunity to influence my peers. Now, does this mean that I am suppose to walk around with a mega-phone constantly confessing my belief in Jesus? No, although our life should be lived so that Jesus is seen through us! What it does mean is that when we are given the opportunity to confess our belief in Jesus we should not allow fear or any other reason stop us but speak with boldness and sincerity our commitment and faith in Christ.