Peer Influence
By Rev. William Dohle
I had a friend in elementary school who I had much in common with.
We had the same likes, went to the same church, played the same games.
He would come and hang out at my house. I would hang out at his.
We had sleepovers together and rode our bikes together.
Even after we got into a fight, we remained friends.
And best of all, I thought, we were going to the same high school.
But there's where we parted.
Once we were in high school my friend started hanging out with one crowd of kids. I another.
I found the Mormon kids to be my best friends. The band my second family.
He hung out with a different crowd.
I took one set of classes. He took another.
By the end of high school, we still said hello to each other...but very little beyond that.
He went one way. I went another.
Why did my friendship with him break away?
For no other reason than because of peers.
He hung out with one group of kids. I hung out with another.
You see... our peers influence us!
Sometimes for good. Our peers can lift us up. They can make us be better people that we would be without them. They can become our lifelong friends. My friends certainly did that. I didn't get into drinking or drugs because none of them were into that. The featured drink at our parties?? Shasta! (No joke).
Sometimes our friends lift us up... But sometimes they work against us too.
Sometimes they influence us to do the wrong thing and become the type of person we shouldn't be.
Sometimes they give us bad advice and sway us away from what we should be doing.
That's what happened to the people of Israel at least just outside the Promised Land.
It says in the book of Numbers...
"While Israel was staying at Shittim, the people began to have sexual relations with the women of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. Thus Israel yoked itself to the Baal of Peor, and the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel." (Numbers 25:1-3)
The people of Israel on their way through Moab, start cavorting with the Moabite women. They in turn invite Israel to meet their gods and the Israelites accept the invitation. Only, instead of witnessing to their own God, they bowed down to the Moabite gods.
What is the Bible saying here? What it says throughout its pages...
Be careful you you're yoked to!
This applies to the people we hang out with, the ones who "invite us" places.
But it also applies to the ones we marry. The ones we are physically yoked with.
Be careful you don't get influenced by them.
Now before we think we should lock ourselves away and only talk to, hang out with, and associate only with Christians and people just like us, let's be clear here. This story illustrates the reality that come with associating with others. You will be changed. Open yourself up to others and they will change your life.
Sometimes that change is bad. But sometimes its good. Opening yourself up to your neighbor you might discover a whole new world waiting you on the other side. You might discover that your neighbor is human and just like you. Or you might discover the differences you have. You might find ways that they can help you, but more importantly, you might find ways you can love them.
The ancient Moabites were seen as Israel's enemy here...but later God turns the world around when a Moabite woman, Ruth, becomes the grandmother of King David himself(and the great-great-great grandmother of Jesus too!)
So know yourself. Know who you are and who you worship. Be confident in your own identity. Then you can accept the invitation of the Moabites around you, loving them as Jesus would, without bowing down to their gods and idols.
God, you call us into a world filled with people different from us. Assure us of your grace. Ground us in our faith that we might love them without falling away from you. Amen.
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