The Dangers of a Preconceived Ideology

If it is one ‘power’ that would be able to stop a person from trying something new, end all the wonderful initiatives brought into action by various institutions and stop the individual human from getting up when it falls, then it is the ‘power’ of a preconceived mind. The constant negativity that a preconceived mind sows is enough to kill any germination of hope, kindness and invention. But what is a preconceived mind?

The famous word -or thoughts- ‘I can’t do it because…I won’t be able to do it because… it shan’t work because…’ are the basic building blocks for a ‘successful’ preconceived mind. Basically, we are already ‘prophesying’ doom to something before we start/try it. Mostly, we don’t realise that we are like this. It comes a bit naturally -I have observed- to a person who is very practical in any sort of way. Someone who is less practical is less prone to such a disastrous mind-set.

Scenario: I am 16, and I am a Christian, so it would seem natural that I would go in search of other Christian people my age -a Christian youth. Therefore, I found out one day that at our local Church there is a youth and I set off one Friday night to see what it was all about. That being my first youth meeting, I had no Idea what to expect. I came there and found people smoking outside, kids in less than decent clothing, and music so loud that it would pop any old lady’s eardrums. I asked someone why the music was so loud, and that person shouted to me over the music that this was the ‘party night’ where they attracted anyone who wanted to join them, and after the UV party finished, it would be a sermon. I almost got a heart attack, and so I wheeled round on the spot and made a beeline out of there.

Completely startled and a bit set off the idea, I got home and explained the situation to my mom. She remained optimistic that even though it was possible for them to have a screw loose, it wasn’t definite that it would be like that every week. So, I returned for 4 weeks after that. The first time it was like this; there was be a cool ice-breaker, we sang songs for 45 minutes and then the call to accept Christ would come about 2 or three times while we sang. The last call would see everyone standing up and ‘accepting’ Christ. I was about the only one that didn’t go, because I have already accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and saviour; it made no sense to do it again. I therefore sat down and watched them. The first time I thought it was amazing! Plus minus 70 kids stood up and accepted Jesus! Wow! It went exactly like that for 4 weeks. It was unbelievable, I saw kids give their lives to Jesus on a weekly basis, but none of them changed. They just kept going on through the week being mean, swearing, and having relationship disasters every day as if nothing had happened. I immediately wrote off the idea and told my mom that I would not return to that youth the following week.

Now, I had three decisions that I could make;

Decision 1; I could stereotype any other youth and -without knowing for certain- say that they are the same as the one that I first visited. There by I would never visit a youth again.

Decision 2; I could simply keep an open mind and try to find another more ‘stable’ -if you like- group that would better suite me and my needs.

Decision 3; I could simply keep attending the meetings and pretend that nothing is wrong.

What did I do? I chose Decision 1. Think about it, isn’t that one that would be more comfy? I don’t have to use my valuable time on searching for something that I won’t find, or going to a meeting that I detest. Best way out, right? Eh, wrong…

Why? This is the ‘power’ of the preconceived mind. I preconceive something preposterous because I was scared off by the first youth. Now, everyone else is wrong and there is NO youth that will be different. That is that! I am done with trying! They are all pretenders -fakes! No one really loves Jesus in any youth, so I am done with my youth idea and I am done with children my age because they are all hypocrites!

Is this healthy? What seemed to be the ‘logical’ way out just turned into the biggest catastrophe that my social life has ever seen. Something that could alter the way I look at any person now, and in the future. In the end, I turned up being bitter at any youth person and any kid my age all because one youth pastor -according to me- had a screw loose. So, no, it is not healthy.

Then -thankfully- my mom intervened and told me how my behaviour was hurting myself. She told me that if I was not going to do anything about it, then I would end up a bitter, old, friendless man in a forgotten hospice somewhere, someday, all because I judged all the youths by the same standard. Because I had preconceived notions about each and every one of the youths before I had even visited them. It took a bit of convincing, as I had built up a thick wall made of anti-youth and anti-person bricks. Finally she broke through and I realised that Decision 1 was not a good idea.

I decided -after mom spurred me on- that I would try attending a youth meeting at the new church that we were visiting -in other words, I would take Decision 2 and see how that turned out. I prayed and asked for God’s forgiveness about my judgemental, preconceived ideology and I set off to the youth meeting.

To say the least, my heart was somewhere between my scalp and my trachea as I sat there as nervous as a bridegroom at his wedding. I waited for the loud music -the music was in fact calm and only a guitar accompanied by a piano played whilst a man sung. It was quite nice. I waited for the 2… no… 3 calls to accept Christ -it didn’t happen. In fact, we were split into groups and discussed Christian topics with one another. It was everything I had longed for since the start of my trip in search of a youth!

Would I have found a youth if I had stuck with Decision 1 and stayed at home, angry with everyone? No… Would I have seen it through less critical eyes if I hadn’t repented? No… Would I have ended up a sorry for myself, bitter, old man in a forgotten hospice somewhere? Maybe… If I didn’t repent, then I definitely would have.

What would have happened if I took Decision 3? Well, I would have bought a gun, shot everyone at the youth, and committed suicide… No, not really. I am just kidding. J

I might have ended up even more bitter as time went on. Or I might have followed their example; smoking, lasciviousness, and being a party animal.

My message to you is this; stop preconceiving. It is in certain cases fatal to the areas that you apply it to. Preconceived ideologies can muck up your life. This is just one example applied to a social aspect, but if Sir Isaac Newton never decided to learn Science, then he would never have written the three laws of motion. If Lionel Messi never decided to pursue his Soccer/Football talents, then he would not be the best on earth. If Jesus never decided to come to earth and die for us on the cross, then we could not go to heaven or have a relationship with Father God.

How to get rid of it? Simple… be intent on your thoughts and words. If you hear yourself say/think ‘It can’t/won’t/shan’t be done because…’ then you most likely ‘suffer’ from it.

If we continue living with preconceived ideas, then we are in real danger of dying, after all, ‘I can’t eat! Everything is covered in germs; I might catch cold if I take a bite of anything!’ is a really not a good life tip. It will help you lose weight quite fast though.