There is a character in the Book of Jeremiah called Pashhur. He was a national asset. He could calm the nerves of a troubled citizenry and put everyone at ease again even if an actual war was looming. Kings loved him and false prophets adored him. He kept telling the people that all is well when in reality all the decadence was simply whitewashed over. So Pashhur was very popular and he drew a crowd.

Now, it is right here that Eugene Peterson has has a helpful exposition for us.

Peterson reminds us that there is nothing inherently wrong with being popular. Just because a preacher has a large crowd following him doesn’t mean that he must be a shallow preacher compromising God’s harsh truth. He might. But his popularity is no proof of this. Sometimes we hear of people deliberating attending small churches because they imagine the big churches must be compromising somewhere.

But the opposite is true too. If a church is small and poor, that in itself is no proof that the preacher must be preaching the pure gospel without compromise. There could be a whole host of reasons why a church remains small.

It is simply wrong to evaluate the worth of a preacher or a church by their popularity or lack of it.  We cannot carelessly approve something just because it has a great following or a small following.

Human beings are terribly fickle-minded. They go by their own whims and fancies. There are times when you will receive a hearing. And there are times when no matter how passionately you speak, you will not get anyone interested.

Jesus had a crowd of 5000 one day. On another day all he had were four women and two very bored soldiers. And yet on both days His message was the same.
  
We need to live by the truth. Not by our feelings or the people’s opinion. We need to learn the art of listening to what God is saying to us not what the pollsters say or what the street surveys show. Be content that we live by the truth.