In 2017, Wired.com ran a story titled, “Google’s New Feeds Show You the Internet You Want to See.” Google looks at what you search and “makes guesses” about what you would like to see in your feed. Based on your previous searches, Google will show you the news headlines, blog posts, recipes, and sports stories that are most likely to interest you.

If you have ever tried searching for the Beatles, or the Rolling Stones, or Buffalo Springfield, you know how this works. Stories about Ringo Starr, Keith Richards, and Neil Young begin to appear on your browser. Have you searched for fishing spots in Michigan’s upper peninsula? Ads for fishing camps and vacation rentals will show up in the sidebar.

It is convenient to have Google give me what I want before I ask, but it is also problematic. If I look at a couple of news stories with a conservative bias, my browser will offer me more. The same is true if I have a progressive bent. If I search the “stolen” election of 2022, I will find sufficient evidence to convince me of the theft. Contradictory evidence will be taken away and buried deep in the 57 million results. The internet is now an echo chamber.

Jesus’s two-thousand year-old advice seems timely in the internet age: “Consider carefully what you hear … With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.  Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

Search engines algorithms will give you more of what you already have and take away the rest. Because this is true, we ought to be careful of what we hear, or rather, what we search.

But of course, Jesus was not speaking about internet search engines and algorithms. He was talking about what we hear, especially what we choose to listen to. A literal translation of Jesus’s words from the Gospel of Mark is, “Look at what you hear.” In other words, “Be aware of what you are listening to.”

What people choose to listen to determines what they will hear. For example, a few years ago I familiarized myself with the call of the Baltimore Oriole. Now that I have learned the timbre of its voice, I am aware of the orioles on our road and in our trees. I had never paid attention before, but now I hear them when they arrive in our area in early May.

Another, more serious example of how this works relates to gossip. People who listen to gossip will hear more and more of it. Those who refuse to listen will hear less and less. It is almost as if a search engine algorithm is at work. “Whoever has will be given more…”

I learned this when I served in my first pastorate. An older member of the church to which I had been called decided the new pastor should be given the low-down on everyone in the congregation. I was foolish enough to listen. That guaranteed that I would be on the receiving end of even more gossip.

The opposite happened when I came to my current church. I chose not to listen to gossip. When people would tell me something negative about someone else, I would say, “We should probably talk to him about this. Do you want to contact him or shall I?” Within a short time, I stopped hearing gossip.

But Jesus’s advice to look at what you hear was not only intended to protect people from hearing the wrong things but to help people hear the right things. The statement, “Whoever will be given more” is not just a warning; it is a promise. Selective hearing can be a good thing; it can unlock a world to us.

The person who actively listens for truth, will hear more truth. The one who listens for good news will hear it. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.” The person who listens for God’s voice will not only begin to hear him speak but will hear him speak more often.