Normalcy Bias and Faith

Normalcy Bias:  Not recognizing the grave, imminent danger of your situation . . . not heeding warning signs . . . not acknowledging precipitative events . . . overfocusing on bits and pieces of collateral elements . . .  not taking decisive action when decisive action really matters.  Simply acting normal and proclaiming that e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.i.s.f.i.n.e. . . .  and even believing it . . . when things are anything but fine.

 People with a Normalcy Bias have a psychological instability.  They see the world through dangerous colored lenses.  The actions they do not take . . . the words they do not speak . . . and the truth they will not accept result in devastation.  To themselves.  Or to those they would not rescue.

 The most poignant example of a Normalcy Bias at work is the success of Nazi concentration camps within small European communities.  Yes, they saw the massive construction efforts down the street.  Of course, they could not help but notice the trains coming back and forth through the edge of town . . . trains loaded with many cattle cars . . . that some people in town claimed were loaded with many people.  The smoking chimneys, with their acrid smells, could be seen from most dining room windows.  But bakers baked their bread.  And mothers sent their children to school each morning.  And fathers came home from work each evening to listen to the radio.  Who knew that they were killing Jews there?  Who could even imagine it?

 Evil is like that.  It hides in normal places.  It lives with normal people.  Evil feeds upon the normal routines and normal beliefs of normal men and women that pursue their normal dreams with the normal belief that normal efforts will produce normal benefits.  Because evil knows that the best place to hide is in plain sight.

Church . . . disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ . . . please hear me when I say this:  things are not normal.  We are living in perilous times.  While we dance on the deck with our BFF’s and relax in opulent dining rooms filled with special guests, the Titanic is sinking.

Perhaps you have felt the deck rumbling underneath your feet from the collision of ice against cold steel.  Perhaps you even notice ice chunks scattered across the deck from the railing’s close brush with the mammoth, frozen mountain.  Should we now continue on as if everything is normal and fine?  Even if others simply turn the music up and insist that we join them in their reverie?

Today is the National Day of Prayer for the United States of America.  Today we need to hear God’s call to His people to shake off our Normalcy Bias.

Please hear me.

If you believe that the real battle in Christianity today is between “legalism” and “grace”, you are deceived.

If you believe that the real battle in Christianity today is between rigid judgmentalism and open-armed compassion, you are deceived.

If you believe that the real battle in Christianity today is between Zionism and Islam, you are deceived.

If you believe the real battle in Christianity today is between political conservatism and activist liberalism, you are deceived.

If you believe God’s battlefield is our national economy or natural resource use or protection of mother earth or protection of people’s rights . . . you are deceived.

The enemy is hiding in plain sight.  He lives in our churches and our Bible studies.  He soothes our consciences with whispers of “grace, grace” and he quietly nudges us to twist our theologies to fit the cultural relevancies of our times.  The enemy comforts us with the sweet fellowship of friends who support us and flatter us.  He tells us all is well.

But he lies.

The real battle in Christianity today is for our own souls.  The battlefield is our own hearts. 

The battle is for the very character of God Himself to be formed in us.  For the Bible to become a living epistle in all that we think and say and do. 

So that the cost of our discipleship to Jesus can be counted wisely and born courageously.  So that our faith can shake us free from the Normalcy Bias of the enemy’s religious deceptions. 

Because Jesus Christ and the cross of His discipleship are the heart of true Christianity.

“It is not a new gospel we need,” Oswald Chambers has said.  “What we want is men who have the grace of their Lord to face the present-day problems with the old Gospel . . . Nominal Christians are often without the ordinary moral integrity of the man who does not care a bit about Jesus Christ; not because they are hypocrites, but because we have been taught for generations to think on one aspect only of Jesus Christ’s salvation, viz. the revelation that salvation is not merited by us, but is the sheer sovereign act of God’s grace in Christ Jesus.  A grand marvelous revelation fact, but Jesus says we have got to say ‘Thank you’ for our salvation, and the ‘Thank you’ is that our righteousness is to exceed the righteousness of the most moral man on earth . . . The only way to get out of our smiling complacency about salvation and sanctification is to look at Jesus Christ for two minutes and then read Matthew 5:43-48 and see who he tells us we are to be like, God Almighty, and every piece of smiling spiritual conceit will be knocked out of us forever, and the one dominant note of the life will be Jesus Christ first, Jesus Christ second, and Jesus Christ third . . . When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?  We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ?  Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.”

I challenge you to look, as Oswald Chambers suggested, at Jesus.  At what he taught in Matthew.  And at the conviction it brings.

Heavenly Father, I pray that you will rescue us from the curse of a seared conscience.  Set us free to feel again.  To feel Your conviction for sin.  To feel your compassion for the lost.  And to feel your Joy for righteous living.  May You be formed in us.  More of You . . . less of us . . . until You come again.

When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.  He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.  For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

You have heard that the ancients were told, ' YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ' You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

You have heard that it was said, ' YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

It was said, ' WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE'; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ' YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE Lord.' But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil.

You have heard that it was said, ' AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

You have heard that it was said, ' YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:1-48

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.  These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.  Let no one disregard you.

Titus 2:11-15

May the Water of Your Word wash us and examine us and change us.