We live in “echo chambers” today. Did you know that? Our world is polarized into red/blue, liberal/conservative, etc. Today’s 500 channel satellite feeds and always on high speed internet connections have allowed us to dial in the sources of our information to our precise preconceptions. This allows us to effectively “tune out” opposing viewpoints with the belief that “everyone” or at least “everyone sane” thinks like me. After all, all my friends think like me, all my radio programs think like me, and all my media outlets think like me.
Social media has only accentuated this condition. Facebook, Twitter, and the like have fine tuned algorithms to give you only content that they think you will “like” while concealing other viewpoints.
In some instances, if our beliefs are RIGHT, then this might help foster more RESOLVE (even if it diminishes the RESPECT we show others who are confused about a particular issue). However, if we are wrong, these echo chambers can reinforce error making it hard for us to know the mistakes we are making.
While some of the particulars I share above are specific to our modern world, the “echo chamber” effect is as old as human civilizations. In Matthew 22, we see a group of Sadducees (a group of theological liberals) who approach Jesus with a question they are SURE He will not be able to answer. Why? Because all their friends think their question disproves the resurrection . . . and all the conservative Pharisees of their day who have been asked this question have also struggled to answer it. Their echo chamber had them feeling pretty smart as they approached Jesus in Matthew 22:23-33 with a question about “the resurrection” . . . an idea they thought was ridiculous. When they ask Jesus this question, though, their echo chamber is punctured, and Truth and Light comes streaming in. The “new” voice of Jesus is able to answer their question with power and certainty.
The Sadducees problem was not that they had come up with an unanswerable question . . . it was that they were asking that question to the wrong Person. Outside their echo chamber was an answer they needed to hear . . . if only they had come to Christ sooner . . . if only they had stayed with Him after the answer came.
This is an important concept for us. Many have come up with what they think is an “unanswerable” question regarding Christianity:
- What about the flood, Noah, and the ark . . . are you serious?
- Isn’t the New Testament full of errors?
- Jesus as THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life seems so closed minded in a pluralist world?
- And many more questions. . .
We have these questions. Certain authors we read reinforce our belief that they undercut Christianity. Our friends may even amen our skepticism or unbelief. In our echo chambers, the arguments against the God of the Bible may seem iron clad.
But our problem is we are asking our questions to the wrong Person. We can bring our questions to Jesus Himself. The One who resurrected from the grave has the answers.
This Sunday, we will look at Jesus interactions with the Sadducees in Matthew 22:23-33 in part 3 of our King of the Mountain series. I hope you can join us at Wildwood in our 9:45 or 11:00 service as we are reminded to bring our questions to Him. See you Sunday!