Crowds are remarkably fickle

Crowds are remarkably fickle. They are easily influenced. Crowds followed Jesus wherever he went enjoying the miracles, hoping to be fed and generally in it for themselves. 

When Jesus entered Jerusalem just a week before his crucifixion, the crowd, inspired I think by the Holy Spirit, welcomed him with great enthusiasm shouting ‘Hosanna. Blessed is he that comes in the Name of the Lord.’ They laid branches and clothes on the road and gave Jesus the right royal welcome that he deserved. 

There would have been crowds in Jerusalem all week, there for the Passover but when Jesus was arrested, tried and sentenced to death this same crowd who had been following him for years, had welcomed him into Jerusalem, turned on him and egged on by the religious leaders bayed for his blood. Jesus was deserted by not just the disciples, but also the crowd. 

Several weeks later the crowd were back in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost and drawn by the sound of rushing wind, they gathered and Peter preached his famous sermon and the fickle crowd who had deserted Jesus in their droves now turned to him to receive salvation. What a glorious day!

In these uncertain days of coronavirus, how essential it is that we are disciples of Jesus and not just part of the crowd. Crowds are notorious for yelling for what they want and not necessarily what’s good for everyone. We only have to see how crowds gather in complete defiance of government rules for our safety to do what they want. 

We are called to be people who follow Jesus and are influenced by what he is doing in these days. There are plenty of prophets of doom but not nearly enough prophets who bring the good news of Jesus and his salvation. The crowd is baying for lockdown or no lockdown and especially for their right to celebrate Christmas as they want to. They want a ‘normal’ Christmas but it is almost certain that is the one thing we won’t be having.

This must be the year when the Church gets out of their buildings and proclaims that Christmas is not about family, children, parties, presents or anything else, but about the birth of Jesus Christ. As Christians let’s focus on that – celebrating that in whatever way we can, bringing the good news of Jesus wherever we can and telling of his great love whenever and however we can.  

The amazing news in the midst of all this gloom is that God became Man and dwelt amongst us. As Christians we must tell of how we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth. Everyone can experience this.

I am hoping and praying that the Church will get out onto the streets this Christmas and be a different crowd – an army of Godly followers not following the crowd but bringing the crowd to Jesus. 

A sense of belonging

There is a Hillsong song that says, ‘Jesus I believe in you, Jesus I belong to you. You’re the reason that I live, the reason that I sing with all I am.  A sense of belonging is essential to each one of us for our identity, security and general well being. We get this sense of belonging from the people and places around us. 

As Christians our sense of belonging should come from our identity as children of God. This is strengthened by our Christian family of friends and church. The family is God’s plan for people, both naturally and spiritually. It is in our natural family where we initially forge our greatest sense of belonging. The same is true in God’s family but it is when the family breaks down, either in the natural one or in the church that some big problems can occur.

It is when we feel let down, hurt and rejected by parents, brothers and sisters or in the church by our Christian friends or leaders that our sense of belonging to these invaluable institutions begins to unravel..  We may then exchange our family or Christian sense of belonging by finding  people and communities who have not hurt us. This situation is always made worse in churches by the feeling that Christians shouldn't behave like this; that they should know better.

I am sure we can all think of people who have left the church or even backslidden because of what a Christian or a church has said or done.  It is heart breaking when this happens. These people have found greater love and acceptance from the world than from Christians and the church.

However, when the church loves, honours and works together in unity and always tries to deal with difficulties it becomes a very powerful family and individuals have a strong sense of belonging and identity. When churches then try and work together across denominations or even nations, the sense of belonging it engenders can help people feel they are working together for something much bigger than themselves or even the locality.  As Psalm 133 says, ‘How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! … For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life for evermore.’ God blesses unity.

The church is at it most effective in outreach when we show love to the world based on love within the local church and even more love across churches. Jesus said, ^‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’(John 13: 35). 

When the world looks at a church full of saints who have such a strong sense of belonging both to God and one another that instead of complaining and criticising one another they love and honour others, then that becomes extremely attractive to unbelievers.

A sense of belonging is so important to each one of us. If you don’t feel you belong either to God or the local church, ask him today to help you understand why, to forgive any who have hurt you and to forge the strong bonds of love and unity with others that will help you feel the love and acceptance that a child of God should have.