Does a Crowd Mean It Is Good?

 May 20, 2024

Monday

It is said that if three people appear to be in a line (que) that others will quickly line up behind them. We have a propensity for thinking that goodness is found by everyone. If someone else is doing this, it must be the right thing to do. And if there is a crowd of people doing it, it is assured to be excellent.

There is a local restaurant that crowds of people try to eat breakfast in. It is loud, crowded and the service is slow. The food isn't bad, but it isn't stellar either. I believe the only reason people line up to eat there is because there are people lined up to eat there. I ate there a couple of times and determined that I wasn't coming back. It may take a while, but I believe there are others who will come to my same conclusion. The food isn't worth it.

We have all seen restaurants come and go. They start off with a bang and end with a whimper. The psychological effect of new, coupled with a crowd makes things take off. The value is simply what people are giving it. There is no inherent value. It is like bitcoin. If the crowd quits buying, the price drops dramatically fast.

This also happens in churches. The church that was all the rage twenty years ago is struggling to pay its staff. If the preacher doesn't continue to be on the best sellers list, churches will slowly shrink. Notoriety is more valuable that substance. We should ask ourselves why we are worshiping in this church in the first place. It should be a place where God has called you to make a difference. If not, you are just following the crowd.

Let's face it, the gospel is offensive. Popularity is not at the core of the gospel.

1 Corinthians 1:23–25 (NASB 2020) ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than mankind, and the weakness of God is stronger than mankind.

Paul was facing a dilemma. The Jews weren't drawn to the gospel because it did not offer the law as a means of salvation. The Gentiles didn't like the gospel because surrendering your life to Someone who died and was resurrected made no sense to them. It could only be personal conviction that any person came to know the Lord and follow Him. Crowds didn't trust in Christ collectively because they were in a crowd. Each person had to make their own personal decision.

That doesn't change once a person comes to know the Lord, either. We should be very careful when we join what the crowd is doing. Though many others may participate, our decisions must be individual. This is probably why churches that start new programs constantly have crowds at the beginning of the programs and few at the end. Many people want to join the crowd in proclaiming a deep relationship with the Lord but they never made the decision to pay the price for that relationship.

Mark Twain said, "A classic is something that everyone wants to have read, but nobody wants to read." I would say, "A best seller is a book everyone wants but no one reads." Buying the book is the cheapest part of the book. Reading the book is the commitment it takes to have read it. Wanting to have the characteristic of one who walks closely with the Lord is not the same as having the disciple to actually obey Him when it is inconvenient and will cost a great deal.

Following the Lord constricts those who are committed from those who aren't. The believer drops the unnecessary things to take that which is essential. It leaves behind those who are unwilling to make what appears to be a sacrifice. Of course, it is life that is grasped but the crowd cannot see it.

So, make sure that you make your decisions as individuals who know that each decision is deepening your relationship with the Lord. There may be a crowd when you start, but they won't all be there in the end.

Matthew 7:13–14 (NASB 2020) ¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.