Most common perception is that what majority says is always right and reasonable, so it must be followed. If any issue arises the voice of the minority has no value, but the voice of the majority is implemented. That is the way democracy works. But what the word of God has to say about such a set up a for decision making. Shall we go by the opinion of the majority or minority?
Even the secular people admit that majority is not always right! Most often for truth, for principle there are only few remains. There are certain people in history though they were alone, stood for a cause and brought dramatic changes in their generation.
The word of God makes very clear that for God majority or minority does not matter. Even if there is only one person who will listen to Him and follow Him, God will be with Him and use Him.
Strange words & deeds
When Noah decided to trust God and walk with the Him, he was alone. The entire generation was very wicked. Gen. 6: 5 – 8. So whatever Noah did was against a popular decision. Imagine the mockery, the rejection he might have suffered due to his commitment to obey what God said. But faithfully Noah followed the Lord in spite of what the majority said.
Consider the life of Abraham; when he began to follow the Lord, there were not a large group to guide him. His only aim was to follow the Lord at any cost; even he was willing to separate from his dear ones for that. Gen. 12ff.
Tragedy by majority
The tragedy of blindly following the majority is found in Numb. 13. Israel will never forget that. Ten out of the twelve spies spoke against an invasion. The ten saw the giants but could not the see the hands of God that works for them. They discouraged the heart of people and caused them to murmur against God. We know what happened later. All of them, except that two - Joshua and Caleb - had to perish in the wilderness before they could enter Canaan. It took another 38 years!
Unbelief and disobedience is not just a silly thing. When God’s people fail to honour His word and follow the Lord He takes it seriously. It will never bring any good for us to just forsake the plain truth of the word of God to please the public.
Beloved brethren there are such lot of scripture portions that very vividly brings before us, that we should not be worried about the popular view, but stand for what we understand from the word of God. We should not fear man, fear God.
Paid dearly
When we think of the many prophets of the Old Testament like Elijah, Isaiah and Jeremiah, they ministered alone. They spoke not a popular message, but some thing that was against the common idea, but which was the word of God. Yes, they did suffer by the hands of their own people, yet they continued their testimony.
We are living in such a time, when many find it convenient to twist the word of God in the name of progress or change. That calls us to take a stand now.
When we come to the New Testament, John the Baptist was alone; his message was not at all a popular one. We know the cost he had pay for it. Later the message of the cross was not something that the majority easily accepted. In most places they were a minority. The Lord Himself said there will be many on the way to destruction but very few will find the way to life. Matt. 7:13, 14. He knew very well that His people are a little flock. Luke 12:32.
Changed history
As we come to the Church history, what was the basic reason for reformation that led Church to come out of the Dark Age? It was the commitment of one man of God – Martin Luther - to stand alone for the conviction. Remember it was not an easy thing. He had to stand against the whole world of Roman Catholicism. Would it not be true that even history will salute this great man for that brave decision?
Coming to the modern missionary movement, it was not based on a decision made a large number of Christians. When William Carrey shared his desire to go to India, most of his church members discouraged him. It was his commitment to God’s call that brought him to India and today he is known as the father modern missions. And many such spiritual awakening during the last couple of centuries is because one or two whom the Lord revealed certain spiritual truth stayed true to it and faithfully kept and passed on to others.
Beloved, progress is not in going away from the word, not even taking back what we forsook. Progress should be in deepening our understanding of our Lord and His word. Even if alone let us follow what we know as true. Even if all go the other way, let us stay true to the Lord. We may feel rejected and despised but the Lord will stand with us. With the Lord even one is a majority.
