The Dangers of Surrounding Ourselves with People Just Like Us
It’s understandable that we want to spend time with others who are like us, with folks who all think, act, and believe the same. Yet when followers of Jesus do this it’s too easy to fall into a Christian echo chamber.
A Christian echo chamber is one where everyone agrees with you. It’s a closed system that blocks any input from outside its environment, where you only encounter a theology—a belief system—that reflects and reinforces what you already agree with.
Although a comfortable place, a Christian echo chamber is also a dangerous one.
Iron Sharpens Iron
The proverb says that just as iron sharpens iron, one person can sharpen another (Proverbs 27:17).
Yet little sharpening takes place within Christian echo chambers. This is because people who live there never confront new ideas, fresh perspectives, or differing points of view to challenge their thinking.
There is no one there capable of sharpening them. As a result, they don’t grow in their faith. They stagnate. Or even worse, they regress.
Narrow Minded
As a result, life within a Christian echo chamber has a tight focus. The group quickly becomes narrow minded and eventually becomes closed minded.
They lack input to broaden their perspective and open their mind to deeper truths. People who align with their views are in, and everyone else is out. They effectively reject people who hold differing faith perspectives.
They become theological silos. This segregates the Church of Jesus and runs counter to us being one in him (Galatians 3:28).
Groupthink
Another outcome residing in Christian echo chambers is what’s called groupthink. We generally talk about this phenomenon in the business world. It’s where decisions are made with a pressure to conform, without considering alternatives.
Groupthink pushes critical reasoning aside. It discourages creativity and exploring insightful concepts. Participants delude themselves into thinking they’re open minded, but effectively they prohibit contrary ideas that could threaten the status quo.
Christian echo chambers result in the groupthink mentality too. It’s detrimental with businesses, and it’s even more detrimental for followers of Jesus.
Faith Segregation
The result of Christian echo chambers is a segregation of faith perspectives. This is a large reason why—perhaps the sole reason why—we have 42,000 denominations in our world today. It results in churches that criticize—and even condemn—one another.
The Outcome of Christian Echo Chambers
Our Christian echo chambers produce division and distrust within the body of Christ, which should function as one. How this must grieve our Heavenly Father. This surely detracts from our worship of him.
Likewise, our Christian echo chambers send a negative message to the world we are trying to reach for Jesus. And this surely detracts from our witness to them.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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