The Trouble With Crowds
4/10/2016
The “herd mentality” is that phenomenon where people get swept up in the emotion of a crowd. We have all seen and maybe even experiences this. Perhaps it happened for you at a college football game or at a political rally. The herd mentality can have devastating effects like those seen in a riot or it can produce something beautiful, as it often does after a natural disaster when people rally together to help their neighbors. But what, if any, effect does the herd mentality have on our religious believes and experiences? In this second message of the five-part series, Poured Out, we will consider a passage in John 12 where a crowd welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem proclaimed “Hosanna,” only to scream “crucify Him,” a few days later.
Passage:
Principles:
What I believe and how I behave tends to reflect the crowd to which I belong.
I will choose to belong to the crowd that best reflects what I’ve already determined to believe.
(John 12:42-43)
Just because the crowd is growing does not mean truth is flowing.
(John 12:19; Mark 15:11-15; Matthew 7:13-14)
The emotion of the crowd cannot substitute for the devotion of your heart.
(John 12:12-13; John 12:37; Isaiah 29:13)
Practices:
Determine what you truly worship and why?
Determine if your faith is based on what you believe or what your crowd has proclaimed?