- Two plus two equals four.
- George Washington was the first president of the United States.
- Phoenix is the capital of Arizona.
- A triangle has four sides.
- The New York Yankees have won the most World Series with 27.
My guess is that none of those grabbed your attention except for the statement that a triangle has four sides. Triangles have three sides. A square has four.
There were five statements above, and only one of them was untrue. Yet, your attention focused on the one false statement. It stuck out like a sore thumb.
If you’re like most people, when you saw the one false statement, you probably started questioning the others as well.
Your senses were heightened, and you might have even Googled whether or not the Yankees had actually won 27 World Series rings. Why do we do this? Why do false teachings seem to stand out more than the truth?
A Biological Reason
From an evolutionary standpoint, one might say that it was necessary for our ancestors to spot divergent things because this could alert us to danger.
But one does not have to swallow the tenets of evolution to say that there is a biological reason why the false stands out more than the truth. This is the way in which God has made our brains.
Our brains are constantly processing information. But our brains are also limited, which means that it has to prioritize. Part of how it does this is through habituation. If a situation is presented enough times, it becomes familiar to us and no longer draws away our attention.
This is why you quickly read over two plus two equals four and that George Washington was the first president. It’s also why you aren’t hyper-focused on your heater turning on, the curtain blowing in the breeze, or the television show playing in the background.
But what happens if your fire alarm goes off? This is not a sound you are accustomed to, and so your brain focuses its attention on the new information.
There is a reason why fire alarms are loud and jarring. Our brain loves comfort and security. When something jarring, like a fire alarm, happens, the brain immediately puts our body into response mode.
There is a part of our brains that follows the mantra of the father on The Croods: “always be afraid and don’t do anything new.” This is why we notice things that do not square up with previous beliefs.
And it’s also why we might at first consider them dangerous. The false (or even the weird) will stick out to grab our attention so our brains can tell our bodies how to respond.
A Spiritual Reason?
We are holistic beings, and God has wired us this way for a reason. Or has He? What if always scanning for negativity actually comes from the Fall? Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed before the Fall.
There wasn’t danger. They weren’t afraid of exposure. But once the Fall happened, they immediately began noticing that things were off. They started to see the negative.
Perhaps, one could say that God has graciously made our bodies adaptable. And since the Fall, this particular tool has been important for our survival.
In a world of danger and falsehood, it is important for us to have bodies that know how to respond effectively. But I believe our bodies were originally created to scan the horizon, looking for beauty instead of danger.
Consider what Paul says in Philippians 4:8,
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.
This is the general tenor of Scripture. We are encouraged to fix our minds, focus our hearts, and center our attention on the good and beautiful. Yes, we are called to be on alert and to watch out.
But that is part of the “not yet” of redemption. We still live in a world with a roaring lion prowling around, seeking who he can devour. But there is coming a day when lions will be no longer.
This is why I have said in the past that the foundation of discernment is hope and not suspicion. Redemption means that we scan the horizons looking for the fingerprints of the rescuing Lion of the Tribe of Judah and not only for the devastation of the prowling lion who seeks to devour.
Scripture continually tells those of us who are redeemed to avoid things like grumbling and complaining but to fix our hope upon the redemption which awaits us.
How Can We Combat This?
In one sense, we do well to continue to be on alert for false teaching. The Bible does indeed warn us of the dangers. We are told to “test the Spirits” (1 John 4:1).
We are foolish if we try to pretend like we still live in the Garden of Eden without lions and liars. We do well to stay vigilant. Knowing the truth and watching for falsehood.
But we’re also foolish if we pretend like redemption hasn’t happened. We don’t merely live outside of Eden. We live in the land where the Son of God has set foot.
We live where redemption happens. Because of this we ought to be people who are alert to the false but are saturated in the truth.
Our brains will tend to habituate the gospel. What I mean is that when we see and hear these old truths, we will store them away as familiar. These truths will be no more different to us than two plus two equals four.
We will nod our heads in polite agreement, store it away as safe and familiar, and throw ourselves into the negative world of social media — where every day, “somebody is wrong on the internet.” So, how do we fight this?
One way we fight this is by cultivating curiosity. If the scriptures are inexhaustible and the gospel is deeper than we ourselves, then we should always have some element of “new information.”
We can always learn new things about ourselves and our engagement with God. We will never exhaust the riches of God. And we’ll never plumb the depths of the gospel.
If we determine to be curious, then we’ll be on our way to combating the habituation of the gospel. When we’re no longer captivated by the truth, it’s because we think we’ve exhausted it.
Secondly, we are able to enjoy truth when we are no longer on high alert. When we live in fear, we’re always looking upon the horizon for danger.
But if we believe that Christ has secured redemption for us and that all of the greatest problems in the world have already been solved in Christ, we can begin to enjoy what Christ has purchased. It’s okay to hope.
Jared Wilson, in his book Gospel Deeps, points out the benefits of being able to enjoy God for who He is. Wilson says it this way:
“If I don’t believe the gospel, I will miss out on the joy of the it-ness of things. I will be looking to these things as drugs, as appetite-fillers, as fulfillers, as powers, as gods, as worshipers of the god of myself.
If steak or win or coffee or chocolate or anything else other than God is the highlight of my day or the ultimate joy of my heart, my joy is temporary, hollow, thin. But if I believe in the gospel, I can finally enjoy the chocolate-ness of chocolate and the coffee-ness of coffee. Only the gospel frees me to enjoy things as they truly now are and as they someday will be.”
What Does This Mean?
Because we no longer live in the Garden of Eden, our bodies are geared toward attention to falsehood rather than the truth. But through Jesus’ redemption, we are again captivated by truth.
Yes, while we still live outside of Eden, we must watch and diligently look for falsehood. But we’re also being redeemed. The primary bent of our heart should be toward delighting in that which is truth.
Truth should demand more attention than false in the life of the believer.
For further reading:
What Does the Bible Warn about False Prophets?
What Did Jesus Mean When He Said, ‘I Never Knew You’?
Do We Strive for God’s Justice or Our Own?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/AndreyPopov
Mike Leake is husband to Nikki and father to Isaiah and Hannah. He is also the lead pastor at Calvary of Neosho, MO. Mike is the author of Torn to Heal and Jesus Is All You Need. His writing home is http://mikeleake.net and you can connect with him on Twitter @mikeleake. Mike has a new writing project at Proverbs4Today.
