In March 2012, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister said that it may be more productive to focus on doing the right things and doing them right¹. The reporter continued: “While the government may know what the right things to do are, Mr Teo said the more difficult challenge is in doing things right.” The authority may believe that their direction is the right one but it would be challenging when having to deal with the forceful majority that thinks otherwise. We may recall some past pragmatic decisions taken by the majority which turned out to be unwise on hindsight. By then there could be negative and lasting consequences. The value system and preferences of the majority easily influence the process and outcome in a democratic environment.In the Pentateuch (OT), there are two leadership challenges that Moses encountered. The first is found in Exodus 32. Moses was up in the mountain with God to receive the tablets of the covenant and was there for forty days and forty nights without food and water (cf. Deut 9:9). The people gathered to Aaron and asked him to make for them gods who shall go before them. Aaron succumbed to their request:

Exodus 32: ³ So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” ⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” ⁶ And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. (ESV)

Aaron was hard pressed with the desire of the people, or the vocal majority, and he caved in to their demand. This is the Aaron whom God made as a mouth-piece for Moses (Exodus 4), the Aaron whom God spoke to (cf. 6:13; 7:8; 12:1), and the Aaron who had been at Moses’ side witnessing the mighty signs God brought about through Moses and himself. Then in Exodus 32, we have this same Aaron failing to stand his ground but crafted a golden calf to be worshipped by the people as the gods that brought them up out of the land of Egypt. When Moses asks Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” Aaron replied that the people were set on evil. This is a self-indictment. He knew the demand of the majority was flawed and sinful. He also tried to distance himself from making the idol by saying that he threw the gold into the fire and out came the calf. What averted God’s wrath in destroying the people and punishing Aaron was Moses’ intercession before God. This time Moses laid prostrate before the Lord forty days and forty nights, without food and drink praying for the people and Aaron (cf. Deut. 9:18).Incident two is found in Numbers 13. Moses sent spies to the land God promised to Israel. The twelve tribal leaders sent and returned at the end of forty days bringing back the fruit of the land and testifying that the land flows with milk and honey and is very productive and fruitful. But the spies discouraged the people by describing the inhabitants of the land as giants and themselves as “grasshoppers.” The outcome was the cry of the majority:

Num 14:¹ Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. ² And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (ESV)

They uttered the unthinkable. They wanted to have another leader and return to slavery in Egypt! Moses and Aaron with Joshua and Caleb pleaded with the people, urging the people to have faith in God’s promise and not to rebel against the Lord. But the people wanted to stone them and then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel (cf. Num. 14:10). Israel’s unbelief and distrust in God provoked the Lord to say to Moses: “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?” God would strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them. Moses interceded for the people and God relented but God pronounced that those who despised Him should not see the Promised Land, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua. The people would remain in the wilderness till the unbelieving generation was gone for the next generation to enter the Promised Land. What a tragic situation. The voice of the rebellious majority prevented Israel from inheriting the blessing earlier.In a democratic system, the voice of the majority carries all the weight. In garnering support from the majority it establishes the winner the right to exercise power or right. This is neither good nor bad, and not the topic for discussion here. A president of a company reportedly told his managers wishing to engage consultants that he could approve the costly engagement but they would still be totally responsible for their performance targets. It forces the managers to act judiciously and they cannot hide behind the recommendations of the consultants. As disciples of Jesus Christ, God’s Word is the principle for our decision and conduct. We have the Lord’s Spirit to be our present guide and help. The imperative for leaders is to seek the Holy Spirit’s leading and guidance when providing leadership and deciding on issues of the church. A corporate decision reached with a majority gives the team a strong mandate, but the decision of the majority is not always right per se. The matured are called to lead, and are “those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (cf. Heb 5:14b, ESV).¹Governance becoming more challenging in Singapore, Channelnewsasia.com, 27 March 2012.

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