How do you decide what is right? Do you simply go with the majority opinion? Do you follow the wisdom of the crowd? II Chronicles 18 reveals that the majority is not always right. Like your mother used to say, if everyone else jumped off a bridge, does that make it right? Would you do it, too?
The better alternative for the Christian is to look for wisdom from God. Sometimes the crowd may be right, but often they are not. And majority opinion changes over time, as we have seen on various social issues in our country. That does not mean the morality of those actions have changed, only their acceptability.
The prophet Micaiah gives us an example of staying strong and courageous in the face of peer pressure. When he is summoned to corroborate the views of a large group of false prophets, he is told, "Look, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king; let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably" (vs. 12).
That's always the temptation, isn't it? It's the nail which sticks out that gets hit with a hammer. Micaiah could have just gone along to get along. He could have allowed the numbers of the crowd to overwhelm his sense of what was right. He could have committed the logical (and spiritual) fallacy of argumentum ad populum - appealing to the crowd. Thankfully, he responded instead, "As the Lord lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak" (vs. 13).
We should follow the example of Micaiah when pressure comes to fit in and adapt our principles or our beliefs in order to be accepted. Like Micaiah, we need to find the courage that comes from our faith and speak boldly the words of truth and grace that God supplies.
You may regret following the crowd; you'll never regret following Jesus!
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