“The crowd is untruth.” – Søren Kierkegaard

“Early in the morning, well before sunrise, Jesus rose and went to a deserted place where he could be alone in prayer. Simon and those with him tracked him down. When they found him, they told him, ‘Everyone’s looking for you!’
He replied, ‘Let’s head in the other direction, to the nearby villages, so that I can preach there too. That’s why I’ve come.” – Mark 1:25-38 (CEB)

The Problem With Crowds

Jesus loves people, but not crowds.

I experienced my first panic attack in a crowd. Every year my family would make a trip to southern Oregon to visit my mom’s side of the family. My Grandma and Uncle lived on the same property out in the country. Usually my other Uncle and his family would come to visit at the same time. It was an annual family reunion. When you have that many people living together for a week, you need a lot of food. So usually the first thing we did was go grocery shopping.

In this particular year I was probably eleven or twelve years old. We went to the Food 4 Less and, for whatever reason, it seemed like every family in the county was also doing their grocery shopping at that particular store at that particular time. The store was packed. When we got started shopping, we knew that one cart was not going to be enough for all the food we needed for the week. So we got two. It was a challenge to navigate our family with two carts through the crowded grocery store. It was a slow process, but we managed.

As we neared the end of our shopping, both carts were almost completely full with food. We neared the checkout and my parents left me with the two carts for a minute. We probably forgot something and it would be too difficult to work the carts back through the crowd to get it. So I was left near the check out to supervise our carts.

That was when the crowd swarmed. It was as if the whole store had finished shopping at the same time and was frantically trying to get to the check out stands. People pushed by me on both sides, grunting with annoyance at the kid in the way. I tried to move the carts to make room, but I was trying to move each cart with just one hand. It did not work well. I would move out of the way of one shopper only to put myself in the way of another. My heart began to race, my breathing became frantic, and I began to sweat. The crowd spun around me. I couldn’t move.

Finally, my mom’s hand rested on my back and I began to catch my breath.

That was when I realized I had claustrophobia. The problem with the crowd was that it left me with no room for movement. It left me stuck in one, small place without any freedom to move to the right or to the left.

This is always the problem with crowds. Crowds restrict movement. They keep you where you are. They do not allow for freedom. They depersonalize – you are no longer a person, you are just part of the crowd.

The De-Personalizing Work of Crowds

I have learned to be wary of crowds. Of course, crowds do not just exist in grocery stores, concert halls, or football stadiums. They exist in religious and political movements. They exist in various pop culture fan bases. They exist on social media. A large group of people get excited about a cause, an idea, or a figurehead and a crowd is formed.

Regardless of the value of the cause that draws the crowd, the crowd itself is dangerous and wicked. The cause itself may be quite virtuous: justice, equality, godliness. But as soon as the crowd is formed, the cause becomes abstract. Justice, equality, and godliness become little more than slogans and the real cause is the will of the crowd: power, control, victory over the “other crowd”.

And there is always another crowd. Everyone who does not belong to our crowd becomes a “them”. You are either with us or against us. Those outside of the crowd are ignorant, stupid, and perhaps evil. Eventually the cause that formed the crowd to begin with fades away and now the goal is little more than a competition against them. Values are an inevitable casualty of crowds.

An easy example of this phenomenon is in politics. Those on the political right were quick to decry President Bill Clinton after his affair and subsequent cover-up. “Character matters,” they said. This is the same political movement that has since embraced President Donald Trump. Make it make sense! Of course, when those who defended Clinton in the 90’s started decrying the character of Trump, it is no surprise that it fell on deaf ears. For either crowd, the value of good character only holds when it is to the advantage of your crowd. Otherwise, such values are a liability.

But it is not just the other crowd that is dehumanized. Crowds restrict. When you find yourself in a crowd you lose freedom. You must use the right words, hold the right beliefs, not question the prevailing leadership and assumptions. If you are going to be one of “us”, then you must abide by all the rules. Fundamentalism is born. There is no freedom for nuance of opinions. Everything is essential.

This is part of what causes the rise of extremism in politics. The right moves further right and the left moves further left, because to be anywhere in the middle entails compromise with the other crowd.

Jesus and Crowds

Jesus was not a fan of crowds, yet he would often attract crowds. People were fascinated by this man, his teachings, his healings. Jesus had compassion on the crowds because he recognized that crowds are made up of people. And so we get beautiful scenes and moments like the feeding of the 5,000.

But Jesus did not stick with the crowd. Eventually, he moved on. He would go away by himself. He would move along to another village. He would say an unpopular word and let the crowd disperse on their own. When the people tried to make him king – the leader of the crowd – Jesus went away. 

One of my favorite examples of Jesus leaving the crowd is in Mark 1. Jesus had been performing signs and healings in Capernaum and now, Simon says, “Everyone’s looking for you!” Jesus easily could have chosen to stay in Capernaum and form a crowd. If the miracles persisted, the crowd could have grown. He could have ignited fanaticism and loyalty among the Capernaum crowd. This crowd could then easily be led by Jesus to do whatever he wanted them to do.

But Jesus says, “Let’s head in the other direction…”

Above my desk there is a small model of Jesus and Peter. Peter is standing next to his fishing boat. Jesus has one hand on Peter’s shoulder, and the other hand outstretched in the other direction – away from Peter’s boat. The scene depicts Peter’s call. Jesus is saying to Peter, “Come, follow me.”

Whenever I look up at this model, my eyes follow the direction of Jesus’ outstretched hand. Because of the way my desk is arranged, my eyes are led to a painting of the crucifixion by Matthias Grunewald. It reminds me that when Jesus tells Peter, “Follow me,” he is inviting Peter to take the way of the cross.

When I think of the scene in Mark 1 when Jesus says, “Let’s head in the other direction,” I cannot help but think that this “other direction” that Jesus has in mind is the cross. Instead of going with the crowd, Jesus goes to the cross.

The Cross is the Anti-Crowd

Despite how popular crosses have become, the cross is the anti-crowd. Jesus was crucified because a crowd formed and shouted, “Crucify Him!” Jesus was crucified because the crowd chose a murderous revolutionary instead of the Son of God. The cross reveals the lie of the crowd. The crowd always says it speaks for truth, justice, and peace – but it is the crowd that crucified our Lord. When the crowd got their hands on Truth, they crucified Him. When the crowd got their hands on the righteous one, they killed him. When the crowd got their hand on the prince of peace, they violently hung him to a tree.

We see the cross and we see the work of the crowd. But we also see the grace of God who refuses to let the crowd get the final word.

In Jesus’ resurrection, the crowd’s verdict on Jesus is overturned. The crowd does not get to determine what is truth – that determination belongs to God and God alone. The will of the crowd ultimately must submit to the will of God.

This is the good news: the crowd will not get the final say. God is victorious over the crowd.