We All Love a Good Ear Tickle!
I hate being tickled, but I love a good “ear tickling.”
I’m unsure if “ear tickle” is a common word outside the church. I grew up in church, so I’ve heard this word more than a few times.
It comes from 2 Timothy 4:3-4, where Paul cautions that, and I paraphrase, a time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers who will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to fables.
Basically, tickling an ear means telling listeners what they want to hear instead of what they might need to hear.
Our Lives Are Surrounded By Ear Ticklers
Over the past few months, I’ve studied the connection between faith and technology, the internet, and social media. I’ve discovered several interesting realities every church and pastor faces in this Information Age culture.
One Reality: People are growing more resistant to truth or ideas that go against their current beliefs or preferred truth.
Of course, this has always been a source of tension in humanity, but the tension is growing exponentially. The Information Age is to blame.
Think about how 24/7 “news” networks, the Internet, social media, and the like work. No matter your belief, you can find a place for people to confirm it and coalesce around it. These echo chambers once only existed in part of our lives, but our exorbitant access to information and content channels has dramatically increased our ability to isolate.
People can easily spend Monday through Saturday engaged only with ideas they agree with.
Then Comes Sunday…
I’m sure you’ve noticed the Bible doesn’t prioritize ear-tickling.
Whether it be an Old Testament prophet, Jesus, or a New Testament letter, the guidance, instructions, and rebukes are challenging to hear. They’re even more difficult to live out.
This positions biblical truth against most human practices.
And you’re responsible for teaching it every week.
Could this partially explain waning church attendance and Christian practice?
I believe it does.
Say Goodbye to Open Minds
Go back 40 or 50 years. People had opinions then, too. However, these collective opinions were often more mainstream and moderate. Why? Because extreme positions didn’t have easily accessible echo chambers. We got our news from the local television channel or newspaper. We mostly knew what was happening in our city, not around the globe. We often interacted with people of differing viewpoints but rarely from extreme positions. Or at least not as extreme as we see today.
No matter what you believe, you can find a community to entrench your belief further while filtering out everything that goes against the collective belief. And the longer the echo chamber exists, the more protective the walls.
We’ve found echo chambers in our:
- Social Media: Algorithms tend to show content that aligns with users’ previous interactions, creating a feedback loop where only similar opinions and ideas are encountered.
- News Consumption: People often choose news sources that reflect their political or social views, which can deepen convictions and diminish exposure to opposing viewpoints.
- Work Environments: Workplaces, especially those highly specialized or culturally homogenous, can become echo chambers where similar ideas and attitudes are continuously echoed without challenge.
- Educational Institutions: Schools and universities can sometimes foster echo chambers, particularly in areas with less ideological diversity among faculty or students.
- Geographical Locations: Certain neighborhoods, towns, or regions may have a dominant cultural or political climate, making it less likely for residents to encounter diverse opinions.
- Hobbies and Interest Groups: Groups formed around specific interests or activities can become echo chambers if they only attract like-minded individuals who reinforce each other’s views and practices.
- Online Forums and Communities: Similar to social media, these can become highly tailored environments where dissenting opinions are either rare or actively moderated.
- Religious Communities: These can also serve as echo chambers if the teachings are rigid and questioning or discussions about different beliefs are discouraged.
Each of these areas contributes to the formation of echo chambers by limiting interactions to largely one-sided conversations, which can reinforce personal biases and reduce the opportunity for meaningful dialogue across different perspectives.
This Is The Culture You’re Called to Reach and Pastor!
It’s challenging, to say the least.
But like any missionary, the better we understand the people, the better we can adjust our approach.
Challenging the echo chambers where people often find themselves requires tact, empathy, and strategic communication from preachers and biblical teachers. Here are several strategies that can help you effectively teach biblical truths in a way that encourages openness and receptivity:
1. Build Trust and Relationships
People are more likely to be open to challenging ideas when presented by someone they trust. The adage is true: People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. This is particularly true of challenging people.
Pastors who foster a deep sense of community and personal connection with their congregation find it easier to discuss difficult topics.
2. Use Stories and Parables
With great intentionality, Jesus often taught using stories and parables relatable to His audience. Similarly, pastors can use storytelling to illustrate complex or challenging truths, making them more accessible and less aggressive.
3. Encourage Critical Thinking
Rather than simply presenting information, encourage congregants to think critically about their beliefs and the teachings of the Bible. This can be facilitated through discussions, Q&A sessions, and study groups.
Critical thinking seems inversely correlated to the growth of echo chambers. Which makes sense. While you have people outside of a chamber, give them something to process.
4. Model Humility and Openness
Leaders who demonstrate humility and a willingness to listen to others can inspire similar attitudes in their congregants. Admitting one’s struggles and doubts can make challenging teachings more relatable.
There’s a reason we crave authenticity and vulnerability. Use these personal tools when preaching or teaching as much as you can. Admit when a biblical truth is challenging for you. Tell stories of your past struggles with God’s ways or boundaries. Your openness may create a renewed interest.
5, Focus on Love and Grace
Emphasizing the themes of love and grace in the gospel can help soften the reception of more challenging teachings. When people understand that biblical truths are meant for their betterment and are delivered from a place of love, they might be more receptive.
We know this, but we rarely teach this. I try never to teach a challenging principle or message without acknowledging that God has our best interest in mind, even if we don’t understand or agree.
6. Provide Context and Relevance
Make biblical teachings relevant to current issues and personal experiences. Showing how these truths apply directly to modern life can help bridge the gap between ancient texts and contemporary issues.
This is the crux of practical teaching. I’m not suggesting you move away from teaching books of the Bible, but I am suggesting that you make every sermon relevant to your congregation.
7. Encourage Personal Reflection
Invite the congregation to reflect on how the teachings impact their own lives personally rather than just theoretically. This can help break down defensive barriers and foster personal growth.
This is one change I’ve made in most of my sermons. I preach most weeks of the year in churches all over the country. When I find it contextually helpful, I give the audience time to process ideas and introspectively ponder what God is sharing through the text.
8. Always Leverage Inspiration After Application
The challenging aspects of many biblical truths convict hearts, but people are remarkably able to direct their convictions away from their heads and hands. Whenever we present a message or idea that goes against a worldly view, we should pair it with inspiration that 1) the idea that challenges our current worldview is worthy of our consideration, and 2) embracing the challenge will make our life and the lives around us better. Not easier, but better.
Don’t Give In to Ear Tickling!
The easiest option by far is to become an ear tickler.
You know churches in your community who’ve taken this route. Whether it be political, ideological, or theological, they found it easier to fill the seats by reinforcing an echo chamber than lovingly challenging people out of the chamber.
The biblical warnings against this are stern and worth our attention.
If we hope to reach our current community, we must acknowledge their predisposition to filter out ideas that go against their predetermined beliefs and strategically challenge them to open their hearts, heads, and hands.
God’s responsible for the results. The Holy Spirit handles the conviction. It’s our job to study and navigate the best approach for our context. After all, we’re just missionaries in our own backyard.
