I spoke about this in a message in Church a few weeks ago and wanted to elaborate on it.
echo chamber: an environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so that their existing views are reinforced and alternative ideas are not considered. (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/echo-chamber)
2 Timothy 4:3–4 (ESV) “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
In the scripture above, the Apostle Paul warns of a time when people will only listen to sources of information they agree with over those who convey the truth. These “seekers of information” will want to learn, but then rebel once reasonable teaching is given. They will construct for themselves realities of their own choosing. They will seek and accept only those voices around them which echo the affirmation of their opinion back to them.
Imagine a world where ideas are only accepted by people if they are already believed by people. It’d be a world where intellectual growth is stunted, mental heath is compromised and cultural (or personal) healing is impossible. The result would be chaos and insanity.
This is the reason God destined His Church to struggle in this world. By opposition, our faith is purified. (1 Peter 1:7) By suffering, we are awakened to God, challenged to keep the faith and be healed of our wounds by Christ. But in the echo chamber, there is no growth, healing or sanity. There is absolutely no space for faith because there is no challenge to ideas. The internet and social media are the prime sources of echo chambers in society.
We are seeing the dividends of this now. We find ourselves culturally in the place where entire ideas have been born in the echo chamber. Here’s how we can determine if the ideas presented to us have been born apart from good healthy scrutiny.
- The ideas aren’t allowed to be challenged by opponents. If they are challenged, the reaction by those who support the idea can be visceral or even violent. (Ex: marginalization, internet tirades, blacklisting, mobs and rioting, etc.)
- These ideas will spiral with increasing distance away from the truth or reality. (Ex: people are self-identifying as animals, different ages, genders, races, ethnicities. etc.)
- Ideas born in the echo chamber will grow feet into movements of people which divide instead of unify, damage versus heal and deceive in place of living in outright transparency. (Ex: Basically anything political right now.)
This happens on the left and right, in red and blue states with democrats and republicans. This problem cannot be located to any one race, gender, ethnicity, nationality or, worst of all, religion. Bottom line folks, it’s dangerous to develop, propagate or follow ideas that avoid scrutiny. Without scrutiny, how would you know if you’re wrong?
This warning that Paul gives to his protege Timothy is to encourage the young pastor to continue steadfastly in his ministry of preaching the Gospel and teaching the truth. When we identify ideas born in the echo chamber our reaction should be the same. Speak the truth of Jesus with love. Don’t be afraid to have your faith challenged or be “outed” as a Christian. Through challenges to our faith we come to know it as the reality. We come to learn God is real and worthy of our entire devotion when we live outside the echo chamber.