“Most of them said, ‘He is dead.’”  Only, he wasn’t!  This came from my Bible reading today in Mark 9, when Jesus cast the demon out of the man’s son.  It says after the demon went out that “the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, ‘He is dead.’”  But “most of them” were WRONG!

     This is a needed corrective today, when SO much weight is given to what the majority thinks.  Everyone looks to polls for the answers to contemporary problems: “such and such a percentage support gay marriage”, or “this many agree with this policy” – as if popular opinion were to somehow to be equated with whether something is inherently true or false.  It isn’t.  “Most of them” here in Mark 9 thought the boy was dead – and they were WRONG!  “Most of them” very often are.  When we look in scripture, it is often NOT the majority who gets it right.  More often than not, it was only the two spies, not the majority, who would act in faith.  It was the one man of insight who knew the mind of God, not the many; the one “contrary”, weeping prophet who had the truth, not the horde of positive-thinking proclaimers. 

     So this is a good reminder for us –  in our “democratic” nation, where so much is decided on the basis of a popular vote.  And in numerous Baptist (and other congregational) churches as well, where “majority rule” is often equated with the will of God.  We need to beware leaning too much on what “everybody thinks.”  Especially when it comes to the things of God – “most of them” don’t have a clue.  When it comes time to choose your path or make your decision, make sure you don’t merely rely on majority opinion; instead, seek the mind of God, and “trust in the Lord and do good.” (Psalm 37:3)  And don’t be influenced by the fact that it may not correspond with what “most of them” think.  As in this passage in Mark, “most of them” are usually wrong!