A Social Experiment

At the sound of a beep everyone in the experiment would stand up.

John 10:22-42

Reference: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” ‭‭John‬ ‭10:27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Explore: I recently saw a psychological experiment to see if people are like sheep.

A secret camera, positioned in a waiting room, showed many people occupying seats. All knew about the experiment except for one subject.

At the sound of a beep everyone in the experiment would stand up. The one person would watch in surprise as time and time again, the rest of the room would stand at the beep.

It only took three beeps before the one subject was also standing up with the rest of the group. Even though she knew there was no reason to stand up, she was just following along with everyone else.

Application: Social experiments are always interesting. This experiment went on to show that this one subject was not alone – every new subject who entered the room had the same response.

It makes you realise we have to be very careful who we follow. Fortunately, standing up when a beep goes off does not have a negative impact on us.  If we surround ourselves with negative voices, however, then we will start to believe them.

Jesus offers to be our shepherd. As far as following someone, He is the best example we can replicate.

It’s when we wander away from Jesus and start imitating others that our lives take a turn for the worst.

Let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus so we know we are on the right track and following the best example.

Prayer: Lord, we desire to follow You. Forgive us when we waver and may we always come back to Your perfect example. Amen.

Analyse your actions. Who does it look like you are following?

example, experiment, follow, Jesus, John