Forget the popularity contest

Who cares what the people think?

How do you cope when it feels like everyone is against you?

I know it’s not a simple place for me to be.

I am interested in a little story that Solomon throws into Ecclesiastes. It is easy to skip over, but it addresses this very issue:

Solomon tells a story about an old king and a young man. At the time of writing it is probable that Solomon is an old king himself.

Ecclesiastes 4:13- 16 Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning. The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor.  There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

So here we have a story about a young man who, through his wisdom takes the crown from an old king by winning the popular vote. Sounds a bit like David and Saul right?

The kicker to the story is that last line: “But those who came later were not pleased with the successor”.

So the first bit of the story is like a Hollywood movie, a young man goes from rags to riches, but just like the people got sick of the King, they also got sick of him.

So why is that meaningless?

Basically the moral of the story is that life is not a popularity contest.

If you were to judge Jesus’ life as a popularity contest then Palm Sunday should have been the highlight and the purpose: but it wasn’t.

Jesus makes it clear that we are not going to always be popular in Matthew ch 10:16-23 (MSG):

“Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.

“Don’t be naive. Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your reputation—just because you believe in me. Don’t be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they’ve done you—and me—a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news! And don’t worry about what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.

“When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.

The world will tell you success is defined by the number of people applauding. Jesus seems to be saying that there is only one member of the audience that actually matters, and he will sometimes take you to places where you will no longer have public opinion running your way.

So the purpose of life, as we see it in Ecclesiastes, is not to win the popularity contest, but to harmonise with the will of the creator of the universe.