I’m going to talk about peer pressure. Last episode I talked about how living under pressure is dangerous? That pressure can be positive? How we can  best handle pressure. Today I want to continue talking about pressure. Before I get into the heart of the subject, I want to talk a little bit about the early apostles and the early church leaders. They were Christians before it was cool to be a Christian, Christianity wasn’t officially allowed to exist until about 316 AD. In the early years, especially in Judea it was considered a sect of Judaism. To the Greeks and Romans it was some weird cult populated by people who talked about some guy the Romans had killed but who they claim rose from the dead. I was reminded of them because I am recording this around Easter, and it’s a time when Christians celebrate the remembrance of the resurrection. Now the early followers lived under constant pressure to change, and that pressure came from those around them or their peers. So in today’s message, specifically I want to look at How can we handle negative peer pressure? How can we help someone who is feeling under pressure? Are there ways we can minimize or prevent pressure?

How can we handle negative peer pressure?

As adults we often don’t really think about peer pressure. After all, that’s something we tend to think of as only affecting young people. The reality is that all of us can fall prey to peer pressure. If you think about it, we often vote for one candidate or another, not because we believe in what they are saying, but because our friends are voting for that person. In fact, I have often asked people exactly why are they voting for this or that candidate, what did the candidate say that made them appealing and often there’s no real answer.

The first step in handling negative peer pressure is to choose your companions wisely. Proverbs 24:1 “Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them;” There’s an old saying, about how all that glitters is not gold. It’s easy nowadays to see some people who are “living the good life” and be very envious of them. After all, they seem to have it all, and the message they send out is that, if you act like they do, you too can have it all. The reality is that in many cases, those folks are not really happy. Oh they smile when the cameras are on them, and they make a great deal about showing off what they have, but inside they’re often empty. Their relationships are empty, their lives are filled with shallow people who will leave at the slightest hint of trouble. However, if they are people we believe in it can be tough to not follow in their path. After all, we all want to appear with it, nobody wants to be embarrassed in public. We cannot allow our fear of embarrassment to keep us from doing the right thing and making the correct decision. Remember the story of John the Baptist and King Herod? Well if you don’t I’ll remind you about it. John the Baptist was making a name for himself and part of it was at the expense of King Herod, who was an incredibly evil human being. Herod had stolen his brother’s wife, and was generally a bad person. John the Baptist had been regularly chastising Herod about his situation and finally Herod wanted him out of the way. At first he was only going to put him in jail, because John was really popular with the public and Herod didn’t want a riot to break out. But….as we find in Matthew 14:6-1- “ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”  Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.” Herod knew what the right decision was, and yet because of his lust for the young girl,