“They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out, in order that you may seek them” (Galatians 4:17). Conformist, Contrarian, or Cultist? It is not overstating it to observe that humans are enslaved to a practically overwhelming need to conform socially. The evidence for this is everywhere in plain sight. Clothing styles are, perhaps, only the most obvious example of very many. Though it might be just as comfortable to dress in the styles of the past, and is certainly not illegal, no one does. For instance, even without a law against wearing tricorns, no one ever wears them. Their wearers would be derided, and that alone is enough to keep any from wearing them. Many activities are perfectly legal but avoided as if they were not. Such is the power of others’ opinion to control behavior. This power is especially remarkable because it is so abstract. It does not threaten any immediate pain or loss. It is simply that most people cannot bear the thought that others have an unfavorable opinion of them. Thus, to have others’ acceptance, they will conduct themselves so as to have it by conforming to their expectations. If they do not, they experience the punishment of others’ disapproval. So powerful is social opinion that, even if any break its rules of acceptable behavior, they go to great lengths to hide it from those whose opinion they value. Others’ opinions are so powerful because of the irresistible impulse to measure one’s self-worth by what he thinks others think of him. Self-image is so bound to one’s perception of what others think of him that, even when he knows he is wrong , if others think he is right, he effectively thinks the same, despite his knowledge to the contrary. He enjoys self-respect because he has others’ respect. This drives the intense need for social conformity. Given these facts, perhaps it might be surprising that some people derive their self-esteem from the opposite phenomenon: contrarianism , which seeks self-approval by making an artificial distinction between oneself and others by objecting to common or traditional beliefs. To the contrarian, conformity only makes him look ordinary and actually lowers his self-esteem. So, the downside of social conformity to the contrarian is that it produces the paradox of proving that he is unexceptionable, and he must oppose this idea by making himself conspicuously superior. He does this by deliberately taking the contrary view just because it is different. This boosts his self-esteem, since it allows him to think that he is smart enough to have thought of something everyone else has overlooked. If he turns out to be wrong, he can always excuse himself by claiming that he was only making people think. If he wins the argument, he makes himself look like an uncommonly insightful and intellectually astute thinker. Yet, the contrarian and the conformist have the same goal, which is the enhancement of their self-image, though the contrarian seeks to achieve it by finding fault rather than by conforming. Also, even the contrarian needs others’ approval. It is very hard for him to believe that his contrarianism only shows him to be better if he pushes it too far. He must not alienate everyone. He needs some who are impressed because his contrarianism makes him look like he has knowledge which eludes others. This convinces a few that the contrarian must be genuine just because he is different. They benefit from him because he strokes their egos and he, in turn, gains enough of a following to confirm his self-conception as someone superior. Depending on how far these people wish to go, they might cross the line separating themselves and the cultists. The solution to the problems of these approaches is for a person to seek God’s approval by simply seeking to know the truth for the truth’s sake, regardless of what it does to others’ opinion of him. This is a tall demand. It requires clear and unalloyed motives. As such, it confronts the one who would know the truth with an unceasing challenge to his honesty.