Today I'm reminded how great it is to know and be around others who are much smarter than me. A good friend of mine who is the VP of Global Sales for a software company headquartered here in Austin wrote this about Romans 9 Today. I can't decide if I'm more impressed by how incredibly insightful it is or the fact that it was sitting in my inbox by 5am. I love hearing stuff like this from guys out in the real world. Thanks Alex, for your input:
June 2, 2008 – Romans 9 “Resolving Cognitive Dissonance” on verses 30 – 33 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
In 1957, Leon Festinger published a theory of cognitive dissonance, which has changed the way psychologists look at decision-making and behavior. The theory of cognitive dissonance states that contradicting cognitions (as any element of knowledge, including attitude, emotion, belief, or behavior) serve as a driving force that compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so as to reduce the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions (beliefs). Two beliefs are said to be in conflict if one belief follows from the opposite of another. Basically, if you introduce a bit of knowledge to a human that is in conflict with beliefs they already hold they will face a level of discomfort similar to extreme thirst or hunger and will try to resolve the dissonance by:
· Changing beliefs - if the belief is fundamental and important to you such a course of action is unlikely.
· Changing actions – deciding not to experience the new belief again
· Rationalizing existing beliefs - which is probably most common
What the heck does cognitive dissonance have to do with Romans 9? Everything; Paul was introducing the ultimate cognitive dissonance to the Jewish faithful. The ultimate conflicting belief to the followers of law. Think about it; if I hold firm to my belief that everlasting life is contingent upon my adherence to a set of rules and earning my way to heaven through acts that I perform to please my God; Romans 9 and all of the New Covenant are a problem. Jesus is the stumbling block and He is shaking rules based religion to the core. The Pharisees have no choice, they must resolve the conflict that Paul is creating in their mind. But it is a deeply held belief and so they are far more likely to either ignore the teachings as a rant of a mad-man or rationalize their existing beliefs (well Paul may be right, but God will surely still let me in Heaven because I am a good guy)
The only answer is to change our beliefs. To understand grace vs. works. This brothers is the leap of faith. To resolve the conflict that Jesus creates in our minds by picking the toughest path, the New Way; change our beliefs.
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Wow. Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to just chuck my original thoughts out the window and piggyback off of this.
It really is amazing how this theory comes into play among so many Christian circles today. I also think it's an interesting point you make about the "level of discomfort similar to extreme thirst or hunger..." Great word picture...that's exactly how it feels.
I've been on both ends of this in my walk. It's really interesting to think about where I would fall had i lived 2000 years ago as a devoted Jew and this radical rabbi started turning my entire belief system upside down. I'd love to say that I'd drop everything to follow him...but I really can't say for sure. Everything was so entrenched in the law...could I really have been able to see the Messiah for who he was? That would be like Jesus coming back today and challenging everything we think we know about church, all of the causes we take up in his name, the battles we choose to fight under the cross...(oh, wait...maybe he's already doing that)...
This moment of conflict really reveals our sin nature. It takes a tremendous amount of brokenness and receptiveness to change belief. Avoidance is quickly becoming the American way in an age of numbing out feelings of discomfort with pills, powders and closed doors. But how many times do we see so much conflict in the church that started off as a seemingly innocuous difference in beliefs? Because while we may start off rationalizing our issue, it quickly disintigrates into a fight about who's smarter. it's a pride issue. None of us want to be wrong.
Alex, you're absolutely right...the only answer is to change our beliefs, and that includes our beliefs that we can figure all of this out. God is not there to trap and display in a shadow box with pins through his wings. Nor is he able to be perfectly contained within the pages of the Mishnah or a systematic theology book (even if it's three big volumes). He's way bigger than that and we need to start trusting him with what he says.
It's a huge leap of faith, brother. Not many choose to go through the painful and uncomfortable process of changing their perspective and belief. The phrases "dying to yourself" and "transform your lives by the renewing of your mind" come to mind...
Listen...great post. Thanks for the wisdom and insight. I took a lot away from this.
May God bless you guys with an overflowing of his love tonight - spilling out onto everyone around you!
I think our comfort is what comes from going by the law. The law is something we can read. We can touch if it is in print. We can read it. We can see it. It is something that is there. When was the last time we "saw" Jesus? Living by faith is sometimes messy. I was running a football camp once and asked a camper what he thought. His comment was, "I didn't expect cussing to be around at an FCA camp." Now, we just didn't let the kids talk anyway. It was an FCA camp but, if we are living by Jesus' example and we are taking the news to EVERYONE, we will get messy sometimes. There are going to be those that need to hear it time and time again to change their lives. If we look at others with just the law then who among us can stand up to that? The question then becomes are you willing to step into an uncomfortable situation to follow Jesus' lead?
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