psychological
conflict resulting from simultaneously held incongruous
beliefs
& attitudes
(as
a fondness for smoking and a belief that it is harmful)
“The term cognitive dissonance is used to describe the
feeling of discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs. When
there is a discrepancy between beliefs and behaviors, something must change in
order to eliminate or reduce the dissonance.”
A great example of this is found in Paul’s letter to the
Romans. This blog will pull a lot from Romans 7:1-25, which I encourage you to
read.
Imagine Paul, a former persecutor of Christians, now sold
out for the Kingdom of God.
On the road to Damascus, Jesus revealed Himself to Paul in
such a way that he changed his belief system entirely and accepted Jesus as the
resurrected messiah-a concept he had previously rejected in thoughts, words,
and actions.
As he was led to fervently make Jesus’s payment for guilty sinners
known, he also made controversial claims that God’s covenant with the Jewish
people was also for Gentiles. Paul
probably came from a family line that found Jews superior to Gentiles and they
certainly did not believe that God was making a separate covenant with
Gentiles. He shaped much of early church thought about how Jews and Gentiles as
he enduringly asserted that all people are united in what Christ had done.
God worked mightily through Paul’s shift in worldview. Then
in Romans 7, we see how after radically changing his deepest beliefs about the
Jesus and the church, Paul still struggles with desiring what is good but not
being able to carry out good works. He deals with a powerful cognitive
dissonance over knowing what is right but still committing sin.
Many of
us experience this same sentiment as feelings of confusion, frustration, guilt,
shame, or learned helplessness. The good news is that we don’t have to remain
in these feelings. Our Dad calls us to wake up and experience His freedom.
One day we will experience His freedom perfectly but until
then, we will wrestle within what Paul expressed as desiring to serve the law
of sin with his flesh and the law of God with his mind. We can both look
forward to our complete freedom while experiencing daily victories through combating lies of the world with God’s Truth (John 8:32-36).
Regardless of our awareness, each day the world is washing
our minds with debilitating lies. We absorb the messages from radio, TV,
magazines, our peers, etc. about our identity and our role in the world. These
messages are often not congruent with what God says about us.
In a world full of rebels who reject God, rebels like we use
to be but only by God’s grace are now daughters, we must guard our minds. We
need the refreshment of scripture in a land that is thirsty.
To sin or to obey will be a decision we will struggle to
make each day. We will choose to obey God out of loving and knowing Him (1 John
2:3 & John 14:23).
God warns Cain in Genesis 4 that sin desires him, it’s
waiting for him, but he must choose what is good and rule over it. What habitual sin will you rule over
today? What temptation will you combat with Truth?
Remember that as 1 John 1:9 promises, God is faithful and
just to forgive us when we confess our sin.
End your cognitive dissonance today. Confess what thoughts,
actions, or beliefs are contradictory to God’s Word and bring them before Him.
Be at ease knowing that your beliefs and attitudes are solidly built on what
God has said.