THE HERESY OF THE HERD
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Shalom, to my Friend and Co-Minister in the Great Commission. We live in the most dramatic of days…
The Scriptures speak of humanity as sheep. When it comes to being one of the Lord’s flock with Messiah as our Shepherd, it’s a beautiful thing. But there’s a dark side to the sheep – not concerning the kingdom but the nature of man. As sheep go astray, so does human nature. Sheep have another characteristic – they tend to follow. They are herd animals. What that means is that it’s the nature of man to follow the majority – for good or evil.
The track record of the majority, for most of Biblical history and most of human history, is a dark one. The majority turned away from the Lord, followed other gods, and rejected the Messiah. Even when the evil is so stark, overt, and satanic as in the evil of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, the majority follow it – and the majority did. There is no way that Hitler could have committed the evil he did if not for the majority. And the majority that followed Hitler and served as his accomplices called themselves “Christian.” Even the majority of those who called themselves “pastors” went along with the evil.
The issue is all the more critical now as we watch our culture – or the majority – turn away from God and to the darkness. The tendency to follow the majority has led many to go along with the present apostasy – even those who call themselves by the name of God – even those of the evangelical world – even born again believers. In recent years several Christian “celebrities” and ministries have found themselves suddenly unable to say what the Bible clearly says – particularly in the face of gay advocacy. Suddenly pulpits across America have grown silent, celebrity pastors have found themselves tongue-tied when asked to answer the question as to whether it’s a sin or not – and some have even crossed the line to affirm the sin.
Is it the result of a new revelation from God? No. It’s nothing more than man’s nature to follow the herd – the majority. It is the weakness, the self-interest, the bankruptcy, and even the cowardice of the flesh in the face of social pressure – the pull of the herd.
In such times as these, we are to live not less, but more bold, more uncompromised, more all out for God. We must, as did the disciples in the Book of Acts, resolve that we will not live as followers of the majority – but as followers of the Lord.
We must each commit once and for all to follow only the voice of the Shepherd – and not the call of the herd.
And may God greatly bless you this month as you do!
Your brother and co-laborer
in His love and service,
Jonathan Cahn
Scripture: Acts 5:25-29