Sometimes people are not close enough to a situation to make an informed decision.  A crowd in Jerusalem was stirred up by the false testimony of certain Jews from Asia against Paul (Acts 21:27-ff).  Paul was accused of bringing gentiles into the temple.  He had not.  We should be careful to gather evidence before drawing conclusions.  The book of Proverbs reminds us of this saying, “The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him” (Proverbs 18:17).    

However, sometimes people are too close to someone or something to be objective.  Malcolm Gladwell makes this point in his book Talking to Strangers.  He reasons that it was the people who spent the most time with Adolf Hitler who were the most deceived by him.  He writes, “The people who were wrong about Hitler were the ones who had talked with him for hours.  I suppose that this makes a certain sense: you need to be exposed to a fraud before you can fall for a fraud” (Malcolm Gladwell, Talking to Strangers, notes on Chapter 2, p. 351).  Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin never met him.  The first two were not deceived by him.  Duff Cooper, one of Neville Chamberlain’s cabinet ministers, was not deceived and would resign his position in protest of Chamberlain’s approach to Hitler.  Others met with him and were greatly deceived.  Prime Minister of Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie King met with him in 1937.  He loved him and compared him to Joan of Arc. Lord Halifax, Chamberlain’s foreign secretary met with Adolf Hitler, Hermann Goring and Joseph Goebbels in the fall of 1937.  He concluded that Hitler “did not want war.”  The British diplomat who spent the most time with Hitler was the Ambassador to Germany, Nevile Henderson.  He believed that Hitler “hates war as much as anyone.”  Neville Chamberlain met three times with Hitler between September 1937 and October 1938.  Hitler told Chamberlain that he would seize the Sudetenland but wanted no more.  Chamberlain believed him.  He said, “I got the impression that here was a man who could be relied upon when he had given his word.”  Chamberlain once told his sister, “He gave me the double handshake that he reserved for especially friendly demonstrations.” (Malcomb Gladwell, Chapter 2: Getting To Know Der Fuhrer).  These men who met him were charmed by him and thus deceived. 

Some, I believe, are like this in spiritual matters.  They are not objective about what is near to them.  They are deceived by the false teacher, whom they know, with the charming personality (Jude 16).  They tolerate sin and spiritual problems in the local church reasoning, “he’s a good ol’ boy” or “that is just how she is” or “that is how it has always been done.” 

We must be spiritually alert.  We are to walk circumspect.  Let us strive to be spiritually objective.  The Bible is the standard.  All should be tested by it (Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:21).