Itching Ears

As the shadow of his martyrdom looms ahead, Paul the Apostle warns young Pastor Timothy: “The time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Itching ears...

In a recent meeting with a study group, we read 2 Timothy 4:1-8 and asked, “What do our ears itch to hear?” We had a wide-ranging and sobering discussion that helped reveal our deep vulnerability to messages that “scratch where we itch.” Our ears long for:

FLATTERY. We want people to make much of us. Our ego yearns to be fed and pampered. Pride makes us susceptible to self-exalting, human-centered messages. We want to feel special and heroic and beautiful and important… And yet, this itch results in ignoring or forgetting about God—very dangerous!

ENTERTAINMENT. We long to be wowed, amazed, impressed; we want that “ooh-and-aah” and the emotional impact from top talent and great performers. There is a certain vicarious “high” we get from being in the audience of great entertainers. The problem is that many facets of the Bible’s message are not entertaining. Do we filter those out?

SILENCE ON SIN. We want to dodge the blunt confrontations of Scripture that shed light on our wickedness and rebellion against the Lord. Our devious hearts long to hear messages that make our sin seem small and our righteousness appear large. Warm-fuzzies scratch where we itch, but penetrating spiritual surgery with the ruthless-yet-redeeming Word of God’s love scares us.

GOSSIP. We want to hear how others have messed up—how foolish or careless or nasty or hypocritical or ignorant or geeky or ugly or incompetent those around us are. Them—not us (of course). Gossip’s twisted satisfaction takes joy in other’s flaws and failures—we get a warped ego boost from the feeling of superiority gossip generates.

Churches need to be on guard. The pressure on pastors to deliver messages that "scratch where people itch" is strong! Lay leaders need to stand with their pastors to call for and support faithful, balanced, honest biblical teaching and preaching. And we must all have the courage to deliver the truth without doctoring it or maneuvering it to please human listeners.

For this cause we need the Lord's help! Join me in praying that our desire in the church would be for God’s Word (4:2), and that this longing would overpower the itch for sinful messages. Pray as well that we’d embrace the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) and not just favorite verses. Pray for “ears to hear” God’s truth!