To whom do you listen?
For many, it is to gain the pulse of the majority, a concept captured by the Latin phrase “Vox populi” or “the voice of the people.”
Starting around 1940, George Gallup began polling to find out the opinions and attitudes of people. It establishes a norm.
In 1863, the people’s voice ridiculed a little speech. It was short, just 287 words. Some said the address was hard to understand and did not say anything.
The speech was the Gettysburg Address. It stood the test of time and outlived all the critics.
Imagine had Lincoln had listened to them. Would he have written one of the great masterpieces in oratorical history?
We face the same problem.
Moderns equate the truth to what most people believe. Today, the voice of the people wants to update God and his word. Through reinterpretation and mental sleight-of-hand, they change the terms of scripture to be palatable.
It was the same way in the beginning. The Jewish leaders tried to silence the preaching of the cross, of which they were guilty. But Peter stood firm.
“But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29, ESV)
When we try to make truth palatable to others, when attraction and numbers replace conviction and truth, don’t listen to the vox populi. Stay with God.
God will be your only friend, and that is enough.
-Robert G. Taylor-
