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Conforming to God’s Authority
I was recently introduced to a couple of studies conducted several decades ago. The Asch experiment on conformity and the Milgram experiment on obedience to authority figures. Both of them are fascinating in their details, but i won't go into those details here. Rather I'd like to consider their conclusions in light of God's word.
The Asch experiment showed that most people will conform to a group against their own reason. A group of peers giving a clearly incorrect answer to a question so affects the last person to be asked that s/he will very often go along with the crowd. The Milgram experiment demonstrated that most people will obey an authority figure to extents far beyond what they would go to on their own, even in the realm of causing physical harm to others.
Of course, in most publications, these responses were discussed from the point of view of evolutionists, but what can we learn when we interpret this evidence from the point of view of Truth?
First, I think we must see His design in us. He created us to be dependent and social. We seek out relationships, and our standing in those relationships is important to us... even when those relationships are as ephemeral as sitting in the same room to answer some questions. From the very beginning God said "It is not good for the man to be alone" Gen 2:18. That means that it is good to have relationships. We know this from our own human experience.
He also created us to understand and submit to authority. A creature with no concept of obedience would have no change in actions when told to do something or not. We do change our actions in the presence of authority figures... by a great degree! Israel knew they needed authority when they requested a king in 1 Sam 8, though they overlooked the fact that Jehovah was their King. Romans 6:16-23 makes it clear that we are slaves, always. We are either slaves to Jehovah for life or slaves to sin for death. In effect, we are always in submission to some authority. We choose our ruler, but we are ruled nonetheless.
Second, that design must be seen in the context of purpose. Why do we conform so readily? Why do we follow after authority? Because, when that group of peers or that authority figure is righteous, we derive strength to push through our weaknesses.
"For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body." - 1 Cor 12:14-20
We are made, as humans, to be dependent and interdependent. We are made to provide comfort and security for each other. We aren't made to be completely autonomous. We are supposed to fit, but that drive, too, can be misdirected. We often seek conformity purely for comfort with no attention paid to purpose. We seek out purpose with no attention paid to design. We seek out authority that doesn't challenge us paying no attention to the authority displayed all around us.
We are supposed to be members of a body. We are supposed to submit to the head of that body, the Authority. Those things are built into us because our Creator put them there. We must fight, however, the temptation to conform to any pattern not laid out by our Creator. We must fight the temptation to submit to any authority other than our Creator. The world will provide empty surrogates for us to "feel" like we are fulfilling our design, but those paths only lead away from our Creator and toward death.
