Choosing God's Way: Breaking Free from the Expectations of Others

Introduction (5m)

Struggling with Peer Pressure and Conformity

Do you feel pressure to fit in with others? To do what everyone else is doing?

Tempted to follow the crowd?

I remember times when I gave in to peer pressure:

Chicken Song.

Luxury cars.

Uniform.

What about you?

Temptation to join in with the bullies at school?

A new kitchen, a new car, an expensive foreign holiday because friends or neighbours having one?

Gossip, criticising, any number of things we can be tempted to do to fit in with others, even though we know they are wrong.

Family, friends, society at large, the pressure to conform can be very strong.

Explanation (5m)

The red town and the blue stranger

Call volunteers to help tell the story.

Fashion in a faraway town to wear red clothes.

Ask volunteers in red to step forward.

Admire clothes and fashion consciousness.

Anyone not wearing red felt an odd one out.

But not everyone wanted to wear red.

Ask for suggestions why e.g. they supported a football team that wore another colour, they had ginger hair, they like to be different, etc.

4th volunteer steps forward, three in red deliberately turn away.

How do you think the person dressed in blue feels? What would they have to do to be like the others.

3 x red volunteers put on crowns and form tight circle.

The countries next door to God’s people in Israel all had kings

God’s people did not have a king.

They were led by their leader Samuel, who was a prophet.

He was in touch with God and knew how to lead his people.

But God’s people really, really wanted to be like everyone else.

Blue volunteer tries to break into the circle, but is shunned by the red volunteers.

God’s people felt left out.

So they asked Samuel to give them a king.

God knows best

God did not really want his people to have a king.

He knew that in reality, by asking for a king, his people were really rejecting him as their leader when they said they no longer wanted Samuel as their leader.

He knew they were influenced by the nations around them, rather than by what was right.

But the people were so insistent, despite Samuel’s warnings about what having a king would mean.

But since God had given human beings the freedom to make their own choices, God told Samuel to appoint King Saul as his people’s king.

Blue volunteer puts on a crown and is accepted into the circle.

But the people soon found out that having a king was not a happy thing for them.

Saul began well as a king but things soon went sour.

Whilst David then followed Saul as king, there was lots of fighting and the people weren’t always faithful is worshipping God.

In fact, there were only three kings who ruled Israel before the country was ripped in two with two kings.

And despite trying to fit in with the nations around them by having kings, their neighbours did not accept God’s people.

The 3 x red volunteers throw the blue volunteer out of the circle, and then all retake their seats.

Application (5m)

Making the best choices

We make choices often because we want to be like others, and this might not be the best choice for us or for others.

Think about times when you’ve followed the crowd instead of following God.

What was the outcome?

As you reflect, do you think it brought you closer to God, or further away?

With every choice we make - maybe not whether to have chocolate or strawberry ice cream, or whether to wear red or blue! - we need to ask if there is a right way that God wants us to take.

When faced with a choice, we should ask ourselves, “Am I doing this because it’s what God wants, or because it’s what others expect of me?”

If we ask this question before God and wait for an answer, then we are likely to make the right choice.

There are other ways we can be ready to make the right choices in our lives too:

We can pray regularly for God’s guidance. Every day we can ask God for his wisdom and strength to follow his ways.

We can read the Bible. Every time we open God’s Word and engage with it we understand more of God’s will better.

And we can seek support from other Christians. We can find friends or family members, or perhaps a Growth Group who also want to prioritise God’s way and make the right choices. They can encourage you and each other.

Making the right choices can impact the world

By prioritising God’s way and making the right choices at home, at school, and at work, we become a beacon of light to those around us.

Others can see the peace and joy that come from making God’s choices for our lives and they may be inspired to follow God too.

And as we all prioritise God’s way and make the best choices, we create a corps family that makes choices to be more loving, more just, and more peaceful, and our corps family reflects God’s kingdom on earth.

A rewarding challenge

Choosing to make God’s best choices our top priority over the expectations of those around us is immensely challenging.

The forces around us are powerful. The temptation is real.

But making the best choices is also immensely rewarding.

By reflecting on our choices, and seeking God’s guidance, and supporting one another as we do so, we can live in a way that brings glory to God and makes a positive impact on the world around us.

Next Steps

SB615 - O Love, revealed on earth in Christ

O Love, revealed on earth in Christ, In blindness once I sacrificed Thy gifts for dross; I could not see, But Jesus brings me sight of thee. I come to thee with quiet mind, Thyself to know, thy will to find; In Jesus? steps my steps must be, I follow him to follow thee. 2 O Love, invisible before, I see thee now, desire thee more; When Jesus speaks thy word is clear; I search his face and find thee near. 3 O Love, for ever claim my eyes! Thy beauty be my chosen prize; I cast my load on timeless grace That my free soul may run the race. Catherine Baird (1895-1984) © The General of The Salvation Army. Used By Permission. CCL Licence No. 135015 Copied from The Song Book of The Salvation Army Song Number 615