Acts 27:42-44 :

The soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape. But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should throw themselves overboard first to go toward the land; and the rest should follow, some on planks, and some on other things from the ship. So it happened that they all escaped safely to the land.

Clearly there is a time when good leadership should not go with the majority decision. Here the centurion went against “the soldier’s counsel” in order to save Paul and instead, relaxed security and allowed the prisoners to swim to shore. As bad as the prisoners probably were, the centurion went with God and His commands. Perhaps, like the time earlier in Acts when the prisoners didn’t run away after the earthquake broke open the jail, these prisoners were not to escape either.

It is not unusual in this world for people to fail to trust God for the outcome and choose to trust in the majority opinion instead. It is good to listen to a majority but only if that majority is listening to their Creator first. If the majority refuses to recognize the rights given by the Creator to all men, then they will probably not do well when handed a democracy.

Just as God had promised, all of the men were saved and the prisoners were accounted for.