The Madness of Crowds

Douglas Murray, a secular political commentator has written a book called ‘The Madness of Crowds.”  In recent times we have seen many examples of collective madness, with people fighting with each other in shops over a loaf of bread, storing up toilet rolls to combat a virus that affects the respiratory system, and so on.  Crowds really are easily swayed by the latest startling news item, by persuasive media voices, by the insistent conformity of peer groups, by societal norms, by wanting to be liked, to be ‘part of it.’ And of course by the abandonment of the threads that held together the very fabric of society, the Bible, the Christian faith, the teaching of prayer and memorisation of Scripture in our schools, the ungodliness of the so-called ‘unchurched’ generations, the post-modern view of the meaning of truth.

No better example than the crowds who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on what we now call ‘Palm Sunday,’ the Lord’s Day before the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.  On that day they cried ‘Hosanna!’

How fickle is the collective madness of crowds, and how illustrative of our natural human condition.  As Christians too, we need to be careful, to watch that our lives are being influenced by God, through his written, infallible word alone, and not swayed by the collective madness that seems to govern the behaviour of the ungodly world; why we must live humble, repentant lives, examining our hearts, to see if there is any trace of fickleness or coldness toward the things of God.

With Christian Love,

Bob