August 26 Itching Ears

Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge. ~Proverbs 19:27 

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His Kingdom, I give you this charge: preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For 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. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. ~2 Timothy 4:1-5 

So, Maddie has had this habit for a long time, and we have no clue how it started, but, when we need to correct her, if she doesn’t want to hear it she will say, in a very annoyed tone, “Stop!” Some kids cover their ears. Older children, and adults, walk away, close the door, forcefully, and become distracted by something else. We have lots of ways of turning away from what we need to hear so that we can pursue what we want to pursue. We “stop listening.” 

Paul warns Timothy, concerning people who will live in a future time: “For 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.” In other words, they will hear what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear, just like a child. 

When we stop listening, it is almost certain that we will stray from the words of knowledge because we are choosing to listen to ourselves instead. Our knowledge is subjective, meaning it only has the information that is based on our own perspective and perceived through our own filters. It’s like a traffic circle from your perspective. If the lane looks open and you don’t prepare to yield for the unexpected approach of another vehicle, and you just keep going without taking into account what is happening in the other three directions, you could be in trouble. You could tell the officer, “I had the right of way!” But you’ll probably get the ticket anyway, if not worse. 

If you have stopped considering all the rules of traffic patterns, because you just had to get there and that’s all that matters, you will have strayed from the words of knowledge about yield signs and rights of way, and cause a lot of harm not only to yourself, but others. 

How does it happen that people in the church stop listening? Notice that Paul’s warning to Timothy here isn’t about the unchurched. The unchurched have no clue what sound doctrine is, or care for that matter. They are living with their entertainments and beliefs and are unphased by doctrines of any kind. Paul is warning that there are those in the Church who will stop listening and begin seeking out what their itching ears want to hear! They don’t like the sound doctrines that they have been taught so they look for, or create, a message that is more comfortable for them to hear. 

It all started in the garden of Eden with satan’s question: “Did God really say…?” Adam and Eve stopped listening to God’s Word of knowledge when they noticed how beautiful the fruit was. “Maybe He didn’t really mean…” We have all faced the temptation since then to equivocate and allow ourselves to ask the question, “Did God really say…?” especially when it involves calling us to stand firm and endure the consequences of obedience. 

“But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” Paul isn’t telling Timothy that it will be easy, but it is required. We stop listening when we stop reading His Word. We stop listening when we question if it really is His Word. There is an assault on God’s Word today like never before. Why? Because it alone tells the truth about who and what satan is and who and what we are. Most importantly, it tells the truth about who God is, who Jesus is, what the cross means, and how the Holy Spirit can provide all we need to obey. 

Many have stopped listening because they don’t want to know. Others have stopped listening because they have been hurt by those who claim they do know. Others have never listened because they haven’t been invited to do so. It is the church’s responsibility to stay firmly in the Word of knowledge which is sound doctrine and to live it out and tell it well and in so doing, draw others to want to listen to that Word of knowledge that we have to share. 

May we make Christ’s message so attractive in its truth that their itching ears can’t get enough of the Word of knowledge that we are sharing. Paul told Timothy to hold steady because he knew that the truth will endure, and attract many in the end. 

Prayer: Father, keep me from attending to anything other than Your Truth! May I live by it. May I memorize it and meditate on it so that it becomes the content of my thinking and decision making. May I never stop listening to Your instruction, so that I may hold firm to the end. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Song: Stand for Truth