A writer named William Somerset Maugham said: “If fifty million people say something foolish, it is still foolish.”*

His words are a helpful (and accurate) reminder that we need to evaluate ideas based on their merit, not popular opinion. 

As followers of Christ, we also need to evaluate ideas based on whether or not they agree with his teachings. If fifty million people say something is wise, but if it goes against what Jesus taught, then it’s not wise. And if fifty million people say that Jesus’ teachings were foolish, they’re still wise. 

The point isn’t how many people say something. It’s who said it.

In Galatians 1:10 Paul wrote: “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

In John 12:43 we learn about some leaders who believed in Jesus but wouldn’t admit it because they didn’t want to be scorned by their peers: “they loved human praise more than praise from God.”

Let’s be more concerned with pleasing God and less concerned with blending in with popular opinion. We’re striving to be Christ-pleasers, not people-pleasers.

“If fifty million people say something foolish, it is still foolish.”

True. So let’s evaluate ideas based on Christ, and let’s calibrate the compass of our heart to him.

Notes:

-After some vacation time, this devotional is back five days a week. I also return to preach and teach at Westminster in Barrie this Sunday, September 7, 2025. Click here to learn more.

-The Up Devotional is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and returns on September 8, 2025.

-*Quoted in: Rolf Dobelli, The Art of Thinking Clearly (Harper Books, 2014), 12.

-Bible quotes are from the NIV.