Saturday, June 9, 2018
Public opinion
Mark 15:11
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.
Public opinion is a powerful thing in contemporary times. As other forms of governance gave way to democracy, public opinion grew in value. Public opinion is said to be the sum of the views, feelings, desires, wants and so on of the majority of people in a city or state or other geographic areas. Generally, this opinion relates to political, economic, or social issues.
Public opinion used to be gathered in the marketplace, coffee houses, gentlemen’s clubs and the like but now we have the powerful tools of opinion polls measuring moment by the moment the public’s temperature on many different issues.
Opinion polls, the means of determining the public’s opinion from a small but representative sample of the whole population is now a big business. No politician or political party contesting for office moves forward with a campaign without the pollster’s report. The aim of the political campaign is not to tell citizens what is right, rather, it is to tell them what they already want to hear, whether it’s right or wrong.
Marketing strategies, advertising campaigns, and public relations interventions are all designed these days to alter public opinion. This makes pollsters, marketing managers, and advertising and public relations specialists critical to how society is going to look in the future. Coupled with the media, this group of professionals have an agenda-setting and opinion forming role that probably gives them disproportionate power over our societies.
Initially, public opinion was to determine what the public wants and then to ensure that they got it, now a few advocates and communications professionals are determining what they want and then shaping public opinion to suit it and accept it.
Well, in actual fact, this is not really a new development in the matter of public opinion. After Jesus was arrested we see that the same techniques were used by a religious minority with power to influence public opinion and manipulate the political and military establishments to kill him.
Matthew sets up the scene for us, “Now at the feast, the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.” Matthew 27:15-18
The religious leaders had two problems, first, the governor did not embrace their case, and so went to the people. Second, they knew that the people were a problem as we saw when Jesus posed a question to them, “they feared the people.” Mark 11:31,32.
Nevertheless, the public’s opinion had to be reformed and so the chief priests, wanting a particular result, pushed elements in the crowd to demand Barabbas and, naturally others followed. It is amazing at how quickly the public’s opinion changed at the instigation of a few.
Just a few days earlier these same people were in the streets shouting a different tune, “many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Mark 11:8-10.
Fortunately, Jesus knew the hearts of men and did not depend on public opinion. At the beginning of the week, the public opinion would have told him that the people were on His side and He would have been devastated to see them calling for him to be killed less than a week later.
The last person to famously rely on opinion polls and sever heavy disappointment was Hillary Rodham Clinton. She, her campaign, the pollsters, the media, and many of the people were all stunned by her defeat to Donald J. Trump in the last general election in the United States of America. But Jesus wasn’t caught and neither should we the body of Christ with the mind of Christ.
Just look at the issues we are faced with today in our societies and culture. Cabinets, parliaments, NGS and courts are all upending centuries of settled opinion and positions of a number of big-ticket items of social conduct and morality. But today, under the pressure of public opinion, they are moving away from these things.
The problem is that this is not necessarily the public’s opinion, this is just the opinion of a few advocates with mass media and social media tools at their disposal manipulating the public opinion for their own ends. The apostle Paul warned Timothy about this development a long time ago and we, the church, would do well to take that advice today.
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” 2 Timothy 3:1-5
We must stay true to the scripture even in the face of apparently contrary public opinion.
Think on these things:
- Who has the greatest influence on your opinion or position on various political and social issues?
- How much does the majority view in society matter to you?
- Does your church have a clear position on the major issues facing us today?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would be guided by the Holy Spirit as we confront the issues of our time under the banner of our Saviour Jesus.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
