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Itching Ears - 2 Timothy 4
Itching Ears - 2 Timothy 4
Paul has time and again warned the disciples about false teachers. Now at the end of his life, he ends this last letter with yet another warning. This time, however, he notes a great part of the problem is the heart of the people who are willing to accept such false teaching. False teachers, like gossips, don’t last long without a listening audience. There, unfortunately, seems to always be an audience.
Such an audience is made up of people who are intent on following their own passions yet want to have a clean conscience about it. Paul states that “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” (2Tim. 4:3-4).
The truth doesn’t allow for such. Truth will convict people of their sins. Truth will demand of them that they repent. They thus will turn away from listening to truth and will find ‘teachers’ who will only teach them what they want to hear.
Such attitudes are not limited to religion! Today we see our whole country having such an attitude. Where universities were to expose students to the ‘universe of ideas’, we now want to shelter them from even hearing opposing thoughts. Instead of hearing, assessing, and answering opposing ideas, it is popular today to shut down the whole process, legally and forcibly prohibiting even the expression of anything that is different. With the anti-religious bent that we are following, the ideas contained within the gospel of Jesus have been locked out of public discussion.
What to do? Paul explained to Timothy the solution to such a situation: “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2Tim. 4:2). Such preaching must be according to truth. It will have to be done consistently and continually, ‘in season and out of season’. It is done NOT because it is popular but because it is needed.
We MUST understand “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17) Our ‘platform’ is not political but Godly and must be rooted firmly in scripture. We can not teach what we do not know.
While engaged in such a battle to be heard, we must observe that “The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
Such preaching takes courage as it won’t be liked and it won’t be well received. There will be some however that will hear, understand, repent and be saved. What do your ears itch to hear?
Hugh DeLong
