Wanting to have their ears tickled…
2 Timothy 3-4 Christians in this day and age need to be discerning about what they are learning from preachers.
“For 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, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 NASB1995
In today’s verses, Paul is writing to his protégé and beloved friend Timothy from prison in Rome. He knows that his time is short; soon the Romans will execute him by beheading. Paul is wrapping up his earthly affairs, and in this last chapter of his letter to Timothy, he “solemnly charge(d)” the younger man to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:2)
Paul is a wise judge of human character, and he knows that unless successive generations of preachers work hard to preach the Gospel in truth, believers will soon turn away from God.
Paul reminds Timothy of this sad human trait, essentially telling him that he will need to maintain focus on preaching the Word of God, because mankind wants to hear what it wants to hear. Humanity wants to hear pleasant things (“have their ears tickled”), not be confronted with its sinful nature and need for repentance.
I am reminded of a woman I know who still attends the same church we went to years ago. When I explained our reason for leaving (the entire denomination had turned to apostasy in favor of being “woke”), she said that she would continue to attend because she felt comfortable in that church. She is the perfect example of what Paul is talking about — she wants to hear pleasant things, not a reminder of the fallen state of her choice of church.
People “comfortably” asleep in church. Image borrowed from David J. Giammona.
That church denomination also epitomizes the next thing Paul refers to, accumulating “for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.” The leadership of that Lutheran synod has made it clear that they want to “turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths”. The particular myth that the denomination chose to embrace at a synod-wide conference — and what caused us to depart from our church upon learning of this — was a wholesale abandonment of one of the core doctrines of our faith.
Here’s an excerpt from the email I wrote to our pastors the evening we heard about this travesty:
The “Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment” that was adopted by the Assembly asserts that there are limits of our knowing the way to God the Father. This is completely contrary to the statement of Jesus in John 14:6 - “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
The leadership was essentially “tickling the ears” of a few thousand people at an assembly to make them feel comfortable about inviting those of other faiths to their meeting, then foisting this false doctrine on the entire denomination. That particular mainline denomination’s attendance numbers have fallen by 41% since 1990 and many of their churches — particularly in areas that were former strongholds for that faith — have closed in recent years.
Fortunately, there are a growing number of churches (primarily nondenominational) that have not “turn(ed) aside to myths” but have stayed the course in teaching God’s Word and the Gospel as they are written. These are churches run by the preachers who have followed Paul’s advice to Timothy, and they are flourishing in our secular society.
Christians in this day and age need to be discerning about what they are learning from preachers, ensure that they’re hearing the Word of God, and not prefer to be force-fed myth in place of sound doctrine.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, I pray that you guard the hearts and minds of Your flock from false teachers and unbiblical doctrines. Teach us to identify false teachings by balancing what we hear against Your Word, discerning when those who claim to teach the Gospel are actually distorting Your Truth. I pray that all Christians live their lives worthy of their calling in Christ, and live to His praise and glory, AMEN.