Opinion bubble

Introduction

I would like to discuss the topic of opinion bubbles with you in more depth today, because it has been on my mind for quite a long time.

As an introduction, I had a look here and there and also asked ChatGPT once. I often use this AI bot professionally, for technical ideas and examples, and I had the feeling that it had slowed down a bit recently.

I asked him for some oneliners (which are short, snappy statements that are one sentence long) on the subject of the "opinion bubble" and I thought one statement was really great:

Imagine

your opinion was a bubble universe - colourful, dazzling, but at the same time so delicate that the slightest whiff of reality could burst it

I searched the net to see if that was any kind of quote, but found nothing. Apparently ChatGPT somehow made it up themselves, recombined it. We don't know how the creativity of AIs works any more than we know how creativity works in humans.

But once again this beautiful statement: Imagine that

your opinion is a bubble universe - colourful, dazzling, but at the same time so delicate that the slightest hint of reality could burst it

There is a Bible text in the Old Testament that describes an opinion bubble quite well, although of course the word didn't even exist back then.

Let me take you into this story, some of you may know it.

I am like you

1 Kings 22, 1-4; NL

1 For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. 2 In the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah paid a visit to King Ahab of Israel. 3 Then the king of Israel said to his men, "Do you realise that Ramoth in Gilead belongs to us? And we are doing nothing to take it from the king of Aram!" 4 Then he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you fight with me against Ramoth of Gilead?" Jehoshaphat replied to King Ahab: "I am on your side; my people are like your people, my horses are like your horses."

A brief explanation: This incident took place around 860 BC. At that time, Israel was divided into a northern and a southern kingdom. The northern kingdom was ruled by Ahab, who was a good politician but a rather nasty character. He allowed the persecution and murder of prophets for a long time, he allowed religions where there was probably child sacrifice and he had someone murdered on false charges over a piece of land. However, after this murder he realised that this was wrong and truly repented of his actions and publicly confessed this by appearing in sackcloth and ashes. However, he probably did not truly repent of his wrong actions.

Jehoshaphat, the king of the southern kingdom, was a good man, you could say. He listened to God and wanted to live in a way that pleased God.

Let's get back to the text: there was no war for three years, so we should rather shout "whoopee", but Ahab thought the three years were too long and wanted to get going again. Of course, it is possible that the people in Ramoth were wickedly oppressed and Ahab just wanted to liberate them in a humane way, but to me it sounds more like a selfish desire to have a larger domain, whatever the cost.

And then Jehoshaphat says: "I am on your side, my people are like your people, my horses are like your horses."

"We belong together, us against them." And the unity continues (1 Kings 22:5, 6; NL):

5 And Jehoshaphat added, "But first ask what the LORD says about this." 6 So King Ahab summoned the prophets, about 400 of them, and asked them, "Should I go to war against Ramoth in Gilead or should I leave it alone?" They all replied: "Go to war! The Lord will give you a great victory!"

A little has already changed with Ahab. He now has prophets at court again and apparently no longer allows such prophets to be persecuted.

Everyone is in agreement. That's kind of nice.

You may be familiar with this. You're in a group where everyone somehow ticks just like you. You feel familiar and safe.

Doubts?

But somehow that's not enough for Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:7; NL):

7 But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there another prophet of the LORD here whom we can consult?"

Why does Jehoshaphat ask for another prophet? Are the 400 not enough? Apparently he has doubts about this opinion bubble. But why? What makes someone doubt the majority opinion, the majority consensus? Jehoshaphat was a man who lived with God and it was important to him that God's will be done, regardless of whether everyone agrees or not. He would not let go. What is right, what is true, what is God's will? And what do we do if the majority sees it differently?

I think Ahab's answer is great and his honesty makes him almost likeable (1 Kings 22:8; NL):

8 The king of Israel answered him, "There is one more to inquire of the LORD, but I hate him. He has nothing but bad news for me: Micaiah son of Jimlah." "You shouldn't talk like that," said Jehoshaphat.

Who loves bad news? Literally, you'd rather shoot the messenger of bad news. And you can't criticise anyway.

We all agree so nicely.

Micha is being fetched

And then they fetch him (1 Kings 22:9-13; NL):

9 So the king of Israel called one of his servants and commanded, "Quick! Get Micaiah son of Jimlah."
10 King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah sat in their royal robes on their thrones in a square at the gate of Samaria. The prophets prophesied before them. 11 Zedekiah son of Chenaanah made himself horns of iron and proclaimed, "Thus says the LORD, 'With these you will strike down the Arameans until you have destroyed them.'" 12 All the other prophets agreed with him. "Yes," they said, "go up to Ramoth in Gilead and triumph, for the LORD will give you victory!" 13 The messenger who had gone to fetch Micaiah said to him, "Do you hear? All the prophets prophesy good things for the king. Why don't you join them and promise him success?"

Disagreement is also hard to bear. We love our colourful, dazzling bubble of opinion. Why don't you join them, it's so beautiful.

But Micah disagrees (1 Kings 22:14; NL):

14 But Micaiah replied, "As the LORD lives, I will only say what the LORD speaks to me."

As a good prophet, you have to say that, but then it continues unexpectedly (1 Kings 22:15; NL):

15 When Micaiah stood before the king, Ahab asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth in Gilead or not?" And Micaiah replied, "Go to war and triumph! The LORD will give the king a great victory!"

Why does he say that? Is he intimidated by this tremendous unity? Is he afraid? Perhaps.

He was only human, and always fighting and pointing out the negative can also be too much for you, so you retreat to "You have your rights and I have my peace".

Even when it comes to opinion bubbles, you no longer want to have some arguments and fights. For example, we simply don't talk about the subject of vaccination any more, there's no point anyway, we can't come to an agreement. I understand that and sometimes do it myself.

But I don't really think it's right. You have to be able to treat each other with love and respect even when you have controversial opinions, even if you think the content of the other opinion is stupid. But this separation between person and opinion content is becoming increasingly difficult.

For example, I think the AfD's statements on renewable energies are wrong, I would even say stupid in terms of content. They want to stop and even reverse the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

How do you talk to people like that? Do we find a dialogue channel? Or do we retreat into our bubble and think, who cares, there's no point anyway?

In 1 Corinthians 13, 1.2; NL (we heard it last Sunday) it says:

1 If I could speak in the tongues of the world or with the tongues of angels, but did not have love, my speech would be just meaningless noise like a booming gong or a tinkling bell. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy and knew all mysteries and had all knowledge, and if I had faith that could move mountains but had not love, I would be nothing.

I was triggered by these verses on the subject of the "opinion bubble". If I could talk and explain things really well, my words without love would just be gobbledygook. If I knew everything and really knew the truth, it would still be useless without love.

Jesus Christ said in Matthew 22, 39; NL:

Love your neighbour as yourself.

and not just the one in your opinion bubble.

I believe that we can only find channels of dialogue, even outside our bubble, through love for our neighbour, through authentic loving action. There is probably no other way.

But let's come back to our text. How does Ahab react to Micah's false prophecy (2 Kings 22:16; NL)?

16 But the king replied, "How often do I have to swear to you that you speak only the truth in the name of the LORD?"

He would rather hear the truth than be lied to. After all.

Micah's prophecy

And then Micah gives himself a jolt (2 Kings 22:17-23; NL):

17 Then Micaiah told him, "I saw all Israel scattered in the mountains like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, 'They no longer have a master. Let them go home in peace."

Bang, the bubble seems to have burst.

This war is not God's will. Go home in peace. Without soldiers, there is no war.

Actually, the king should look after his subjects like a shepherd, watch over them, guide them to do good, but Ahab would obviously rather burn his people out in war.

18 "Didn't I tell you?" the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat. "He never has anything good for me, only bad news."

Nothing is more beautiful than when expectations, even if they are bad, are fulfilled. You can really hear Ahab's "See, see, see" here.

But then Micah reveals the background (2 Kings 22:19-23; NL):

19 Then Micaiah continued, "So hear what the LORD says! I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, surrounded on his right and on his left by the heavenly hosts. 20 And the LORD said, 'Who can entice Ahab to go to war against Ramoth in Gilead, so that he may die there? Many suggestions came, 21 until finally a spirit came before the LORD and said, "I can do it!" "How will you do it?" the LORD asked. 22 And the spirit replied, 'I will go and make Ahab's prophets prophesy all the lies. 'You will succeed,' said the LORD. 'Go and do it.' 23 So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of your prophets. For the LORD has determined to bring disaster on you."

Who believes a story like that? Personally, I have learnt to trust the Bible because I have experienced a lot with Jesus Christ, as have many of you, and I am convinced that this story is true. And disaster did indeed come to Ahab afterwards. He did not survive the war.

But if someone told me a story like that today, I would find it very hard to believe. For example, God wants the downfall of our Baptist Union and has therefore made sure that all the pastors say stupid things in the sermon next Sunday. And one person knows this and tells me. I admit, the comparison is a bit of a stretch, but if God didn't make it very clear to me that this was true, I wouldn't believe it.

There was also a certain tension in the air afterwards (2 Kings 22:24-25; NL):

24 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah approached Micaiah and struck him in the face. "How, should the Spirit of the LORD have left me to speak to you?" he asked. 25 Micaiah replied: "You will know it on the day when you wander from room to room, desperately looking for a place to hide."

We realise how difficult this is. In this case, the troublemaker, who tells a completely improbable story, is the only one who is right. After all, Ahab dies in this war.

Of course, the troublemaker is not always right, as we know from our own experience. But we have to bear in mind that sometimes the improbable and unimaginable for us can be true, and then our bubble universe, no matter how colourful and dazzling, can burst with a loud bang.

Conclusions from this

I would like to draw a few conclusions from this:

Own wisdom

Firstly, a striking and well-known saying from Romans 12:16; LUT:

Do not think yourselves wise.

it says in most translations. Perhaps even more appropriate is the translation "New Life":

Do not imagine that you know everything!

As Christians, we should never lose this humility that there is still a lot we don't know, that we can be wrong, that we have to learn throughout our lives. We shouldn't take our own opinion bubble too seriously.

Dealing in love

And then I would like to repeat once again what Jesus Christ said in Matthew 22:39; NL:

Love your neighbour as yourself.

As Christians, we have experienced that God loves us and that he has taken away our guilt.

Then we can meet our neighbour in love, despite all the topics such as "corona vaccination", "Ukraine war", "climate change", "e-car", "heat pump", "Gaza war", you can certainly think of even more trigger topics that might make a conversation difficult.

We have won the discussion and lost the person, that can't be the case.

Everyone needs Jesus Christ, regardless of which bubble they prefer to live in. And Jesus Christ wants to reach every person.

Summary

Let me summarise:

Once again the oneliner from the beginning:

Imagine your opinion was a bubble universe - colourful, dazzling, but at the same time so delicate that the slightest whiff of reality could burst it.

We looked at the story of Ahab, Jehoshaphat and Micah from 2 Kings 22 and at first they all agreed so beautifully.
Jehoshaphat didn't want to be blinded by the unity and asked questions.
Bad news and contradiction is not so nice, unity is much nicer.
Sometimes what seems completely improbable to us is true. As Christians, let us keep this humility, that we never think we know everything and that we always have to learn.
And very importantly: the relationship with our neighbour is much more important than being right. Let us enter into dialogue with one another in love, just as Jesus Christ showed us.