Greg Laurie: Most People Reject Christ Because of Mob Mentality
Greg Laurie, a popular evangelist in Southern California, believes that most people reject Christ not because they have honestly looked into the faith, but largely because of mob mentality.
"To a large degree, a vast majority of people do not reject Christ because they have looked into it or because they have some honest questions about the Bible or Christianity," he said in a Facebook post on Monday. "They reject Christ because they let others do their thinking for them. They mock because others mock. And they become willing victims of someone else's prejudice."
Laurie, who is senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, used the example of Judas — the disciple who betrayed Jesus — to make his argument.
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When Judas betrayed Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane, multitudes came to arrest Jesus – without realizing exactly what they were doing.
"They were moving together as a mob," Laurie noted. "That is so typical of the mob mentality. Many of the people who joined in on this probably had no idea of what they were doing or why."
And that's what he sees happening among unbelievers today.
In his recent post, Laurie also tackled the debate around why Jesus chose Judas as a disciple even though Jesus knew he would be betrayed.
Judas, Laurie explained, was not "just a pawn."
"It's important to realize that the Lord's selection of Judas as one of the Twelve did not seal his fate. Rather, it gave him an opportunity to observe Jesus closely. As Judas properly concluded later, 'I have sinned by betraying innocent blood' (Matthew 27:4)," the pastor wrote.
"God, in His sovereignty, had determined that His Son would be betrayed by a friend. But divine foreknowledge does not destroy human responsibility or accountability," he continued.
"Judas made a decision freely and would be judged accordingly."
Laurie previously warned that those who reject Christ will face a "final judgment" that Christians will escape. The Harvest Fellowship leader preached in December a sermon series focused on the book of Revelation, stating that one day all people will meet Jesus either as savior or as judge.
"The Christian will not face this Judgment, because Christ has already borne our sins on the Cross and we have put our faith in Him," he said at the time.
He described "eternity to the godly" as "a day that has no sunset" and "eternity to the wicked" as "a night that has no sunrise."
