What does an O-ring, a piece of foam, and a stick of incense have in common? On their own, they are small and innocuous. But when mixed with the wrong thing—a compromise—they can produce costly consequences. For NASA, it was the mixture of compromise into their culture that caused two catastrophes that costs lives that almost permanently, derailed our manned explorations of the heavens. The near fall from space was the result of, officially, a normalization of deviance. In laymen’s term—pride. The Hebrews call it gabah—to be high and exalted.
In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds into flight, killing its crew of seven, because of an O-ring—the size of a rubber vacuum cleaner band—failed due to unusually frigid morning temperatures. It allowed hot gases from one of the smaller solid external booster rockets to escape, compromising the larger eternal booster tanks. The Challenger crew never had a chance. But in fact, they did, if NASA management had heeded warnings that the O-rings were susceptible to freezing weather. But NASA culture operated under the thinking that an unsafe practice can be considered normal if it does not immediately cause a catastrophe. The O-ring history of failure was no big deal. In essence: "if a failure isn’t fatal, it’s forgivable.”
This NASA culture of normalization of compromise persisted to the demise of the crew of the Shuttle Columbia who, in 2003, met their fiery end. Management ignored warnings that flying pieces of foam from the external booster could be a danger to the Shuttle’s leading wings. They pridefully exalted, “Foam could never damage fiber glass enforced fiber glass. The shuttle is safe.” But when flying foam created a hole in the wings during take-off, reentry heat seven days later engulfed the doomed space craft. Pieces of it was strewn over East Texas. Columbia fell from space because “pride” goes before a fall” just as the Psalmist said.
This was not the first time something so small and innocuous mixed with the compromise of pride produced costly consequences. King Uzziah, of Isaiah fame, let the simple act of lighting a stick of incense in the Lord’s House compromise his relationship with God. We see this in II Chronicles 26:
16But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. II Chronicles 26:16
The lighting of incense in the Temple was reserved for God’s priests, not God’s kings. Uzziah’s normalization of deviance, his disobedience of God’s law, was the kings saying that he was above the law, that this failure was not fatal. It was normal, but it was not without serious, lasting, uncommon consequences.
…18Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God." …19 leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense. 20Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he [was] leprous on his forehead…21King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. 11 Chronicles 26:18-21
O-rings, pieces of flying foam, and sticks of incense are small things. But when small things are mixed with prideful motives, the fall can be great. For those reasons, pride should never be normal. No one is above the Law and the Lord.
Comments