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A Majority Of Two — God And You!

On November 7, state elections will take place. As American citizens, we enjoy a privilege too few other people of the world enjoy — the right to select (by majority vote) the folks who exercise authority over us, and to have some say in the decisions those folks make. It’s a privilege for which we should be grateful, and one that we ought to exercise as our conscience and understanding dictate. However, as effectively as our democratic system works in the civil realm, we run into problems when we attempt to apply the same principles to the kingdom of God.

The Lord is not the head of a democracy, a republic, or any other form of representative government. He is not interested in our choosing for ourselves how His business ought to be run, nor is He at all inclined to have decisions made by majority rule. He alone has the right to determine what is and is not appropriate for His people. His vote is the only vote that counts!

The Bible warns us of what happens when people try to manage God’s business in their own way:

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth” (1 Timothy 4:1-3).

All of the dangers Paul mentions here are symptoms of the same underlying condition — disdain for God’s authority.

When individuals (or churches) decide that they know better than God does how they ought to conduct ourselves, they not only disobey His commandments, but they invent their own rules and bind them upon others (Matthew 23:4). Think of all the false doctrine men have concocted for themselves and for others, because some group somewhere decided that they could alter God’s plan to suit themselves. Because many members of the Lord’s body are ignorant of the Scriptures, they are easily persuaded to “go along with the crowd” when others decide to abandon God’s truth. Paul told Timothy:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

The Scriptures caution us not to be swayed by what “everyone” is doing or wants to do. The wise king wrote, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent” (Proverbs 1:10). The Lord told the Israelites, “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil” (Exodus 23:2).

If we learn any lesson from secular politics, it should be that the majority is often not in the right, and quite frequently is in the wrong. When it comes to principles of faith, God’s direction is always the correct one, no matter how many others may disagree. The Lord always constitutes a majority, even if it’s a majority of only two — He and you!