Joshua and Caleb were ready to conquer the promised land. But ten other leaders who had gone with them to spy out the land feared the Canaanites. They encouraged Moses and the people of Israel to not invade the land. Their reasoning is seen in their statement “we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them” (Num. 13:33). This statement illustrates their faulty perspective. A proper perspective, grounded in reality and accurate before God is essential for making good decisions. Notice two flaws in a grasshopper mentality that we see displayed in the ten rebellious spies.
First, a grasshopper mentality causes us to lose proper perspective by comparing ourselves with others. The spies were intimidated by the Canaanite peoples. They said they were giants. They thought they were a “devouring” people who would destroy them in battle (Num. 13:32). When we compare ourselves with others we typically fall into one of two ditches. We either think too highly of ourselves by finding others we judge less than ourselves, or we think too lowly of ourselves by finding others we judge higher than ourselves. Paul admonished us to not give in to this foolish behavior of comparing ourselves with others (2 Cor. 10:12). Christians must seek our primary validation from God. The ten spies led Israel into forty years of wandering in the wilderness and the passing of their entire generation because they inaccurately compared themselves with others. In truth, they rejected God’s view of them, choosing rather to faithlessly compare themselves with God’s enemies.
Second, a grasshopper mentality causes us to lose proper perspective by assuming false ideas about what others think of us. Remarkably, the spies didn’t only make a judgment about themselves, they also made a judgment about what the Canaanites thought about them. Somehow they got it into their heads that the Canaanites thought they were like grasshoppers. It makes you wonder if they asked the Canaanites, “What do you think about us?” I highly doubt they took opinion poles as they were spying out the land. Actually, we find out later from Rehab while she is hiding some future spies that the Canaanites greatly feared the Israelites (Josh. 2:8-11). They made a huge mistake all because of the false assumption they made, which was actually completely wrong! How many times do we do the same thing? We assume someone doesn’t like us, said something about us, or is out to get us. But often we are completely wrong. You see when our thinking is based on faulty perspective, what we believe others think is also tainted.
An accurate perspective grounded in reality and who we are before God is necessary for proper decision making. We must understand ourselves well in order to lead ourselves and others well. Do you have a grasshopper mentality? Stop comparing yourself to everyone else and stop assuming, often wrongly, what others think of you.
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Source – The Top Ten Leadership Conversations in the Bible by Steve Moore – ch. 2
