05/07/23 My Big Fat Bias - Bust that Myth!

Watch this Week's Message

ICEBREAKER
Let's play myth or truth. Click here for more detailed answers.

1. Bulls get angry when they see the color red. (myth)
2. We only use 10 percent of our brains. (myth)
3. Women accused of witchcraft were burned at the stake during the Salem Witch trials. (myth)
4. You'll get cramps if you go swimming right after you eat. (myth)
5. You have to wait 24 hours before submitting a missing person's report. (myth)
6. Touching a toad will give you warts. (myth)
7. If you touch a baby bird with your bare hands, its mother will reject it. (myth)

We're discussing a teaching series from church called "By Big Fat Bias: Letting God Shape the Thoughts that Shape You." This series, which is part of a larger series of teachings on wise-decision making, is exploring various cognitive biases we all tend to have in our minds that need to be managed or overcome in order to make godly , wise decisions. This week, our discussion will be around what's known in psychology as the Confirmation Bias and what the Apostle Paul calls "itching ears."

REVIEW & DISCUSS

1. Read or review John 9.
   1. Remind each other what happened in this interaction between Jesus, the blind man, and the pharisees.
      1. Jesus healed the blind man on the sabbath. What is the sabbath and why is that significant in this story?
      2. What were two "myths" the pharisees believed?
         1. It's a sin to do good on the sabbath.
         2. Someone's sin was the reason the man was blind.
      3. How did believing these myths taint the pharisees' ability to believe Jesus healed the blind man and was the Messiah?
   2. The pharisees fell victim what is called the confirmation bias.
      *The Confirmation Bias is the tendency to look for and favor information that confirms your existing beliefs and discounting evidence that does not confirm your existing beliefs.
   3. Where do you see the confirmation bias affecting and demonstrated by the pharisees?
      
   4. How does their bias affect their interaction with the blind man and his parents? How does it affect their view of Jesus?
      
2. Read or review 2 Timothy 4:1-5. 
   1. Paul uses the phrase "itching ears." How is this similar to the "confirmation bias"?
      
   2. What do people with itching ears tend to do?
      
   3. In verse 1, what does Paul tell Timothy (a pastor) to do when the people around him have these "itching ears"?
      ​"Preach the word, correct, rebuke, and encourage"
      
   4. In what manner does he tell Timothy to do these things?
      "with great patience and careful instruction"
   5. What additional instructions does Paul give Timothy in verse 5?
      "keep your head, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry"
3. In what ways do you see people falling victim to the "confirmation bias" in the world today?
   
   1. In what ways to you see yourself falling victim to the confirmation bias in your life?
      
   2. To what kinds of sin can it lead?
      
   3. Is anyone immune to it?
      
   4. How can we manage it?
      
      1. Hold your opinions lightly
      2. Allow yourself to be wrong
      3. Test your thinking (look for ways your view is wrong, not just ways it's right)
      4. Beware of repetition

PRAYER
First, take some time to identify ways you can pray about what you just discussed. Second, take some time to ask for additional prayer requests. Then close your time together in praise and prayer.