Fickle

Fickle- changing frequently, especially as regards one's loyalties, interests, or affection.

¹² The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ¹⁴ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

¹⁵ “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
    sitting on a donkey's colt!”

John 12:12-15 ESV

  I remember being in a New Testament class in college and we were going over this passage and it struck me that the nation of Israel was singing Jesus praise on Sunday and by Thursday night, they were chanting crucify Him.  I remember asking the professor why the such quick turnaround by the people, and his response was because people are fickle.  That comment has always stuck with me and the years since, I have noticed how people can be fickle, myself included.  So here are my few observations on what it means to be fickle. 

   My first observation is that fickleness is often a result of not having a backbone.  People who tend not to have a backbone tend to change their opinion like the weather.  Some people are so bad, that if you don’t like what they are spouting or standing for, talk to them after they are online for twenty minutes researching any hot button topic.  Not having a back bone could mean one of two things.  The first one is ones reasoning and logic skills are so underdeveloped that they jump from one reason to another.  This source of reasoning comes down more to flash and what is appealing or popular rather than truth or fact.  The second reason is, is that people care more about what other people think.  In essence they want to be liked by a particular group of people, so they adhere to the ideas of the group.  In essence it is group think and we do it so we have some form of validation and respect even though it is fake.

   My second observation about fickleness is that how the minority can change the whole dynamic of the group.  With the Triumphal Entry and Jesus, the religious leaders wanted Jesus gone, preferably dead, but at least not causing waves.  They were doing it because they enjoyed the status with the Roman Empire.  They were free do as they please as long as they minded their own business and didn’t cause any trouble.  They saw Jesus as a threat to their peace, comfort and status with the Roman Empire.  The religious leaders started a smear campaign against Jesus, causing people to question His authority and their way of living.  When seeds of doubt and lies start getting planted, how often do we seek the truth, and how often do we become the conspiracy theorist.  We tend to take those seeds of doubt and lies and with it until we find something else comes along that sounds better.  Fox News, CNN and just about every other news and satire outlet make millions doing this.  This is how they are able to stay on the air, because they know the news they promote may have a kernel of truth to it to make it believable but twist it in such a way that the facts are long gone and it leaves people divided and in shouting matches online or in person.

   My third observation about fickleness is who do you trust.  Our beliefs and actions show ourselves and a world that is watching who or what we trust.  Do we only trust ourselves, the mob mentality of culture or the wisdom of the Creator.  If I am going to watch a Jerry Bruckheimer movie (director of Top Gun, Armageddon and others), I know there are going to be big explosions, questionable acting and a few naughty words.  When you trust someone or something, you are letting them or that thing speak into your life and impact it in ways that could bear eternal consequences.  If we trust ourselves and pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, it leads to an unhealthy self reliance that is not good or Biblical.  Relying on others to what we think can lead to group think which can be dangerous.  Also, others are humans too, just as sinful and fallen as we are.  The only way to go is trusting Jesus.  Not only is He the author and perfector of the faith, but He is the Creator which means He has authority over all.  When we are fickle, we tend to lead ourselves and others astray, no matter how good our intentions are.  Jesus is the only one that can give us a firm foundation to stand on and we don’t have to go jumping from idea to idea because He doesn’t change.  Cultural truths changes with the generations but the Truth of Jesus never changes.  How it is presented may change, but the core message stays the same, which is that there is a Creator that loves us, and creation, no matter how fallen or self destructive we are or can be, we are worth redeeming because we are created in the image of God and that is worth redeeming.

   I will finish off with this quote that is attributed to such people as Alexander Hamilton, Peter Marshall and others.  That is “if we don’t stand for something, we will fall for anything.”  Not being fickle means that we stop being so gullible and we grow up and mature.  We use the brain that God gave us to reason things out, while listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit and following that lead.  That backbone is not bowing down to the ever changing culture and sticking to the time tested truths that God has set up before the earth was created.