Following The Crowd
Exodus 23:2 (TNIV) drops a small-but-heavy bomb on us, particularly those of us who like to follow the crowd and reap whatever popularity or acceptance that may come with it. The verse says, "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong." Short, not sweet, but to the point.
The verse here is specifically talking about lawsuits, justice, mercy, and not following the crowd so as to pervert justice. However, this also can apply to other areas of our lives.
Following the crowd is always a popular thing to do, because there is safety and security in numbers, and most of us are insecure people. Think of the crowd at a football game. When we cheer along with 60,000 other people in a football stadium, then we become one, big, blended voice. Individual identity is lost, but acceptance from 59,999 other people is gained. And we crave acceptance.
That is why it is so easy for many of us to deny justice or to do wrong, for the sake of gaining acceptance from the crowd or the majority of the people that we do life with. It's why a teenager will drink or have sex, in order to try to become more popular with his or her peers. It's why we may discriminate or repress those who are different from us in race, color, or ethnicity, because we want to preserve the power of the majority to which we belong. It's why a group like the Ku Klux Klan could terrorize minorities for so long in the South. It's why the Nazi Party was able to rise up in Germany in the 1930s, oppressing and killing Jews as the German people stood by and did nothing to stop it. The crowd was doing wrong, severe wrong, but almost everyone was content to just follow along and not oppose what was happening.
If following the crowd means that you will do wrong, or pervert justice, then don't do it. There may be a short-term price to pay, and the price may be a significant one. But remember that God is watching, and that He is a just God. If you oppose wrong, and do not pervert justice, and do not follow the crowd, even if it costs you plenty, then God will see it and God will bless you for it.
The verse here is specifically talking about lawsuits, justice, mercy, and not following the crowd so as to pervert justice. However, this also can apply to other areas of our lives.
Following the crowd is always a popular thing to do, because there is safety and security in numbers, and most of us are insecure people. Think of the crowd at a football game. When we cheer along with 60,000 other people in a football stadium, then we become one, big, blended voice. Individual identity is lost, but acceptance from 59,999 other people is gained. And we crave acceptance.
That is why it is so easy for many of us to deny justice or to do wrong, for the sake of gaining acceptance from the crowd or the majority of the people that we do life with. It's why a teenager will drink or have sex, in order to try to become more popular with his or her peers. It's why we may discriminate or repress those who are different from us in race, color, or ethnicity, because we want to preserve the power of the majority to which we belong. It's why a group like the Ku Klux Klan could terrorize minorities for so long in the South. It's why the Nazi Party was able to rise up in Germany in the 1930s, oppressing and killing Jews as the German people stood by and did nothing to stop it. The crowd was doing wrong, severe wrong, but almost everyone was content to just follow along and not oppose what was happening.
If following the crowd means that you will do wrong, or pervert justice, then don't do it. There may be a short-term price to pay, and the price may be a significant one. But remember that God is watching, and that He is a just God. If you oppose wrong, and do not pervert justice, and do not follow the crowd, even if it costs you plenty, then God will see it and God will bless you for it.
posted by Stephen Guschov at 12:04 PM
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