The Normalcy Bias

As a pastor, I’m a student of human behavior.  The mind of man is very fickle and unpredictable.  We are definitely very unique.  We are the most intelligent species on earth, but our mental aptitude and intelligence is so extreme that it breeds unintelligence.  Unfortunately, we become too smart for our own good.

We develop patterns of behavior that contradict our own “intelligence.”  One of them is what we call the Normalcy Bias.  It refers to a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. This mental state causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects. This often results in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for disasters.  It’s expressed before hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and financial meltdowns.

But I believe this behavior is expressed more vividly in the church.  We, as believers of the Bible, live our lives with a denial of upcoming future events.  We live and conduct our lives with no respect of consequences.  We live our lives without being mindful of judgment.  We are deceived in thinking that life is just normal… but is there really such a condition of “NORMAL?”

The Normalcy Bias is also known as the “Sheep Effect.”  I believe it’s no coincidence that we, as the church, are referred to as “sheep.”  We are the great under-estimators.   Our lack of honor and respect to life’s consequences and judgments causes us to live in a deceptive state of mind. 

As Christians, we fail to prepare.  We make no preparations for death.  We make no preparations for eternity.  We refuse to share our faith with family members and friends that are on their way to hell.  We refuse to live our lives with a Holy reverence to eternal consequences.  

Lord, break us free from the NORMALCY BIAS!!   We don’t want to think that all is “Normal!”  Help us see the urgency of living a life with an eternal message that carries eternal consequences!