The other day I saw a picture of a pregnant woman with a hand written sign on her bare belly which read, “My baby is pro-choice.” What did that mean? Did she mean that the baby would only be born if IT chose to be born? Was the mother trying to say that she favored the Pro-Choice position and was having a Pro-Choice baby? We don’t know what she meant but it can leave you scratching your head.
The theory of Cognitive Dissonance was developed by Leon Festinger in 1957, to explain these odd relationships between thoughts. Cognitive Dissonance occurs when an inconsistency exists between thoughts, attitudes, or behaviors. When disagreement occurs something has to change to eliminate the dissonance. If there is opposition between an attitude and behavior the attitude usually changes to make room for the behavior. This is especially true if we really like the behavior. For instance, I know that eating too much chocolate makes my blood sugar rise, but I really like chocolate so I exchange my wise thought for leniency, and enjoy the chocolate. As Christians, if the behavior or attitude is a sin, then we have a problem. God will not change His attitude toward sin and we shouldn’t either.
The theory of Cognitive Dissonance goes on to speculate that the greatest difference of opinion occurs when the two alternatives are equally attractive. Obviously, we could predict that attitude would change in the direction that provides the greatest incentive or reinforcement. Again, from a Christian perspective this could be seen as the flesh vs. The Spirit Man, The Devil vs. God, or Moral vs. Immoral. Thankfully our great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will give us superior incentives to sufficiently motivate us in His direction every time.
However, when no moral conflict exists between two equally attractive options, a dilemma occurs. The mental discomfort remains and actually increases unless we attempt to seek more information needed to resolve the dissonance. Recently, the news media has brought us the story of the woman who had octuplets. The spin-misters having us speculating about this baby obsessed crazy woman whose mother thinks she is a little off. From a Christian standpoint, if the mother implanted and carried eight embryos because she didn’t want to abort them, is the unwed mother a hero or a crook? Perhaps we Christians continue to tune in for more news information to resolve our cognitive dissonance over the issue?
Who could forget the black and white picture of the character Norman Bates, with his downcast eyes and closed smile. It was a look of evil. In the classic historic movie Psycho, the Norman Bates character played an unassuming motel clerk that dressed up as his dead mother and killed patrons. How someone could be so mentally conflicted and perpetrate these crimes mystified us.
Last year, a bridge collapsed in Minnesota, and we watched in amazement as rescuers rode their motor boats over the submerged bridge, pulling victim from the disaster scene. It was a picture that did not make sense, and we struggled to wrap our minds around the images that were outside of our normal reality. Bridges were made for floating under not over.
Cognitive Psychologists tell us that we attempt to deal with these distortions through a process called Cognitive Restructuring. To put it in a nutshell we replace faulty thinking with accurate beneficial beliefs. The Cognitive Restructuring theorists think that unrealistic beliefs are responsible for stress, depression, anxiety, and social withdrawal. If we can ditch the negative beliefs, then we can also rid ourselves of the destructive emotions as well.
You may be saying this all sounds well and good but how can you determine if a belief is unrealistic? Again, as Christians we can’t make these decisions outside the scope of God’s Word, which is the compass for our life and decisions. As cognitive dissonance invades our thinking we need to structure these thoughts somehow, or else we will experience the same psychological discomfort the rest of the world feels.
In 2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul tells us that, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (NIV) As we’ve already learned, to get rid of cognitive dissonance we need to gain more information to restructure our beliefs. Therefore, when our thoughts and emotions are in conflict we are instructed to go into God’s Word. All of our beliefs should be rational and based upon the consistency found in God’s Word. Challenging our thought habits can be very beneficial to us as Christians. Christ didn’t die for us to simply accept every idea that comes down the pike. I Corinthians 2:18 tells us that we can take control of our minds and have the mind of Christ. It becomes impossible to replace negative thoughts and feelings with life enhancing thoughts and beliefs from God’s Word if we don’t know what they are. That’s why it’s crucial to explore God’s Word and find out who we really are as Christians, so that we can challenge the irrational damaging beliefs that pelt our minds daily.
In 1 Samuel chapter 15, we find that God had ordered King Saul to kill all the Amalekites in Ziklag. Saul thought he could please God without obeying his command and fully destroying all of the Amalekites. Sadly, if Saul wouldn’t have rebelled and simply obeyed God’s command, then he could have saved David and his men the unnecessary suffering of seeing the Amalekites take away all of their loved ones. Instead, his men were bitter over the loss and wanted to blame David who was completely innocent. Disobedience has a high cost. The Lord wanted Saul to act radically to destroy sin in the land but he compromised.
We can never cognitively restructure sin. God only has one answer for sin, utterly destroy it. Only as we get deeper into God’s Word can we accurately distinguish between what pleases God and gives us life, and what destroys the life within us through sin. Hebrews 4:12-13 remind us that God’s Word is “living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
So in these days of stress, confusion, and great angst, as our world spins lopsided and farther out of control, we each need to confront the growing cognitive dissonance we face daily. We should be running to God’s Word frequently for guidance and strength. Through his living Word and the direction we receive from his comforting Spirit, we can successfully restructure our cognitions.
“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably why so few people do it.” Henry Ford.
