Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. [Matt 7:13-14]

Do you remember when mom said something like, “If everyone was jumping off a cliff would you do it too?” If you’re like me, you had a tough time coming up with a witty or convincing comeback to that one. With regards to theological concerns we might ask mom’s question like this: Does popularity merit our spiritual devotion and doctrinal approval, or is it more of a warning to flee in the other direction? Or we might simply ask: How wise is it to follow what everyone else is doing?  Consider the following insight into the style-over-substance problem…   

We have but to become acquainted with, or even listen to, the big names of our times to discover how wretchedly inferior most of them are. Many appear to have arrived at their present eminence by pull, brass, nerve, gall and lucky accident… [T]he church also suffers from this evil notion. Christians have fallen into the habit of accepting the noisiest and most notorious among them as the best and the greatest. They too have learned to equate popularity with excellence, and in open defiance of the Sermon on the Mount they have given their approval not to the meek but to the self-assertive; not to the mourner but to the self-assured; not to the pure in heart who see God but to the publicity hunter who seeks headlines.

A.W. Tozer; emphasis added

Popularity is problematic whenever associated with truth, especially the essential truths for living. It is always a red flag that must be investigated.  Nonetheless we find Christians taking comfort in rather than being cautioned by the mob mentality.

Let us then keep in mind this problem of popularity rule: the more popular it is, the less likely it is true. This is not to say that everything that has a large following is false, but—given Jesus’ the-many-vs.-the-few principle that He gave us in the Sermon on the Mount—the more the numbers increase, the likelihood that it is biblical is greatly decreased. Nevertheless, just the opposite is believed by many Christians. Sadly, the more others are following it, the less scrutiny it is given, and the greater the chance they will believe and follow the latest craze.

Yet, when has the truth ever been popular? How popular was Jesus? Notice that in the span of a few verses (Luke 6:22-29) Jesus’ fall from fame was, quite literally, precipitous. In a matter of minutes the throng following Him went from “All spoke well of him…” (v 22) to “All the people in the synagogue were furious…” at Jesus, “drove him out of the town,” and tried “to throw Him down the cliff” (vv 28-29). What could cause such an abrupt nosedive in approval ratings?  One word: Truth.  Everything, and everyone, turned on the simple words of verse 24, “I tell you the truth…”

Many Christians struggle mightily with this specific discernment principle because it so counter-intuitive. The natural belief is generally the reverse: the more people are following something the more likely it is true.  What is the mind-set behind this?  There is always laziness on our part, along with something like “I don’t have the time to research and discern every book and concept being taught” or “Can that many people be wrong?” or “The chances are that many of those followers have already done the research and have figured out the rights and wrongs; therefore I don’t have to.”

So what best captures our attention, truth or error? (see 2 Tim 4:3-4; Prov 22:15; Jer 17:9; Gen 6:5; Ecc 9:3; Rom 3:10-18) Here are the facts of our flesh: We are drawn to crowds, not God. We crave fads, not truth. We live for what feels right, not what is right. We rush to get into the wide gate and gravitate toward the broad path (of least resistance) while mocking and fearing the narrow road. The standard of our deceitful heart is not if something is true or not, but, rather, if it feels good, if it “works,” and if everyone else is doing it—especially the people who seem successful, cool, and have it all together. We are even willing to be deceived—or not challenge others with the truth—if it means that everyone (or at least certain key people) will still like us.  This is who we are; this is what drives us in our sinful nature.

As usual, when we are not discerning, when we follow our flesh, when we are not overly concerned with “contending for the faith,” we regularly get things backwards.

What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight. [Lk 16:15]

Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man…Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. [Lk 6:22, 26]

Many teachers—in their attempt to appeal to the masses and not offend—intentionally avoid directly answering questions or making bold absolute statements that may, at least in their minds, push people away. They would rather draw them in by feel-good type teachings (the old “bait-and-switch” ploy). Others evade, minimize, or alter the “negative stuff” like sin, repentance, confession, hell. Instead, they teach more of a God-just-wants-you-to-be-happy or God-is-love-but-not-angry-or-just kind of message that meets their criteria for success—getting people in the doors, selling books, and gaining the admiration of many in the church and the world alike. 

While this ear-tickling error may be obvious to some, beware of the less conspicuous form of chic Christianity—when it is “cool” to go against the norm. This is more difficult to discern because there may not be a lot of people tagging along, at least at first. Nevertheless, the reason they are following this trend is because it is…well…trendy.  Most people are not following the cause simply because they wholeheartedly believe in it; they are, ironically, following it because of the people and popularity involved—as well as, for example, some sort of feeling of non-conformity, elitism, victimhood, “fighting injustice,” or overall extra-special Christianity.     

This stealth mob mentality gives people a false sense of “going against the crowd,” when, in fact, they are doing nothing less than what they say they are against…following the crowd! Pretty soon, however, more and more people will join them, and then it will no longer be in vogue. The “cutting edge” people will already be on to the next hip “counter-culture” revolutionary idea while often disdaining those still in the last fad. While we can easily observe this pattern in the fashion world, academia, music, artist, feelings-followers, etc., we need to acknowledge that many of us Christians are not that different; we all want to be a part of something special, something “cool,” even something elite.

So What’s the Harm?

There is something worse than being an enemy of God; it is being an enemy of God while thinking you are a friend of God [Matt 7:21-23]. Popular “emotional truth” that “works” (e.g. numerically; better feelings, acceptance among the “in” crowd) is highly deceptive.  It tends to produce situations where we think the problem is solved but it is actually worse, far worse, because now we have no reason to deal with the very real trouble in our lives [Is 5:20; Jer 2:13; 8:11-12; Hos 6:6; Gal 3:1-5]. In addition, to add insult to injury, our danger will only increase because problems left unaddressed usually get worse. 

If, for example, we believe our problem is an empty love tank or a poor self-image (popular ideas today; see Principles #3 & 9)—rather than our self absorbed sin nature and the flesh-Spirit dynamic in our hearts (always unpopular)—then our problems will only get worse. What makes this especially deceiving and dangerous is when we somehow “solve our problem”!  If we get others to “meet our needs” and “fill our tank,” or we feel better about our selves, we will assume the artificial problem is solved. 

But notice how this “success” is in reality a disincentive to deal with the actual problem.  Which one of us, after improving the performance of other and feeling much better, will be inspired to buy a book on and ardently go after “putting to death” [Col 3:5-10] the evil in our “earthly nature”?  Who is going to repent of a sin that “hinders” our relationships or “so easily entangles” our life [Heb 12:1-3] when we have discovered some newfound shortcut “secret to happiness”? It just doesn’t happen. (Maybe this is where the phrases “ignorance is bliss” and “fat, dumb, and happy” came from.)

Satan would much rather have people happy and lost than hurting and lost. At least the distressed person retains the desire to seek answers. The “happy” person has little motivation to remedy their situation because they think they have found the solution or—because they have a temporary improvement in feelings—they don’t really care. For them—and for the flesh and according to what is popular—unhappiness is the real culprit. Because this undesired feeling has been eliminated, so has the problem. This is why Principle #4 (The Embellished Need Syndrome) is so important for the active discerner and church leader.

Counter-intuitive realities (sure to make you unpopular):

Numbers are not the measure of success. Delight in, faithful devotion, and welcomed conformity to truth, God’s Word of truth, is the standard for every believer [2 Tim 2:15; Mk 12:30-31; Jn 8:31-32; 14:6; 17:17; 1 Jn 3:16; 1 Cor 13:6; Ps 1; 19:7-11; 119]. Small numbers do not necessarily mean success or failure. But wherever you find a large following then the truth will be rare, and even unwanted.

Trendy “truth” is a deadly diversion from the essential truth. If we become preoccupied by the latest in-thing—what everyone else is doing—then we will inevitably be distracted from what God wants to do in our life.

Popularity is an opiate that suppresses the believer’s thirst for righteousness, hunger for truth, and need for inner change.  Its energizing buzz betrays the soul into thinking it is being fed and thereby starves and weakens the heart. It ultimately produces the worst case scenario: people who are duped into thinking their problems are being addressed and resolved. Therefore they are unaware of the festering hardship and doom that awaits them because their true need is not addressed.

Chic Christianity concentrates on improving what is short-lived—our feelings, circumstances, or even behavior [Jer 6:13-14; Mic 2:11; 2 Tim 4:3-4]—and can easily be accepted by the world [Jn 15:18-19].  Biblical truth, on the other hand, is “foolishness” to the world, offends our flesh, yet cuts to the heart and transforms our inner-being and eternal experience [Is 6:5; Jer 6:10; Matt 6:19-21; 15:1-14; 23:13-36; Acts 2:37; 1 Cor 1:18-2:5; 2 Cor 2:15-16; Gal 5:11; 2 Tim 4:2; Heb 4:12-13]. This kind of Christianity is never popular.

The book of Isaiah gives us a prime example of the inner workings of our flesh in relation to what is right and true…

These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD's instruction. They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” [Isa 30:9-11]