Teachers for Tickled Ears: 2 Timothy 4:1-8

“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, NASB).

The election for the next president of the United States shows us clearly that we live in a divided nation. Like the church at Corinth, our country is divided for many reasons. The debatable issues are many. It is not only a division between the citizens of the United States; rather, there are divisions within the Body of Christ. How do I define “Body of Christ? The body of Christ is made up of all who claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Within this body are many parts or faith traditions. Jesus speaks of the varied groups of people that are included in His body. He says, “I have other sheep which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd” (Jn. 10:16, NASB). Jesus prays for His body. “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, so that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me” (Jn. 17:20-21, NASB). We can see that Jesus makes allowances for different faith groups in the body. The requirement is that all of them must believe in Jesus Christ.

What is a threat to divide the body of Christ? Some believe that different doctrinal beliefs are a threat to the church. Some believe that the ethical and moral standards are a threat to the church. Some even place great emphasis on worship styles and church polities. Although there are schisms in the body, I do not believe that they are a threat to the body. Paul in writing about the Lord’s Super says: "For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you” (1 Cor. 11:18-19, NASB). Like a large family, there will be differences of opinions along many lines, but I speak from experience that these differences do not threaten the existence of the family. However, Paul writes in 2 Timothy that there is a threat to the existence of the church. Let us examine what Paul says to us.

Before we look at what threatens the existence of the church, let us revisit the purpose and the mission of the church. Now there are a lot of churches that have mission statements. These mission statements tell in a few words the emphasis of the church’s ministry in the world. Usually, from what I have seen, these mission statements tell something about how the church seeks to meet the needs of its members and their efforts to reach out to the community in which they reside. Paul, in our text, is not suggesting that the church reach out to serve the needs of the community, even though I believe that many churches believe that this should be their main purpose in the world. I believe that Paul is concerned that the church wants to please the community more than it wants to serve Jesus. Paul is concerned that the church is losing its focus on preaching the Gospel so that people might come to faith in Jesus Christ. Often, the community expresses needs that have little to nothing to do with the kingdom of God. The community may care nothing about the things of Christ, but the church must never lose its focus on the kingdom of God.

In this text, Paul is exhorting the church to focus on the mission that Jesus gives. The four gospels and the Book of Acts record the commission that Jesus gives to his disciples prior to His return to the Father (see Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-17; Lk. 24:44-49; Jn. 20:30-31, 21:15-17; Acts 1:8). As we can see the commission that Jesus gives to His disciples is that of preaching the gospel so that people will come to faith in Jesus Christ. In accordance with the commission of Jesus Paul writes, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2). Preaching the gospel for Paul means that the proclamation that Jesus is the Son of God come in the flesh to die on the cross for the sins of the world. It is declaring that Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one of God who sacrifices Himself once and for all for the forgiveness of sins so that human beings might be reconciled to God. It is proclaiming in spite of many opposition teachings that Jesus is the only way. Preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ is the fundamental and necessary thing that keeps the body of Christ alive. However, in the church there are those that reject the message of the gospel. Preaching Jesus is not what they want to hear; especially when the gospel conflicts with their own desires. You see, people want to be saved. No one wants to suffer separation from God throughout eternity. People want to be blessed by God. Their problem is that they want God’s blessings for the satisfaction of their own desires. The gospel is preached whether it is a time of reception or a time of rejection. This is not a matter of church unity; it is a matter of church survival.

When Paul talks about preaching “in season and out of season” he means that people want to have their ears tickled. They want the preacher to preach a message that will help them to obtain their own desires. They want teachers to tickle their ears. They want “feel good” preaching and teaching that tell them that they do not need to believe in Jesus as the means to salvation. There are different ways to get to God. These other ways to God allow them to establish their own righteousness. They get to decide what is right and what is wrong. They do not need to control their passions. They have a mind and they can think for themselves. There is no need to hold to old ways. It is time for the old people and their old ways to get out of the way so that the young people with their new ways can become the rule of the day. To combat this thinking requires that the preacher of God and especially church pastors “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (4:2, NASB).

People want their ears tickled. I am becoming increasingly aware of this truth because of the coronavirus pandemic. I never used Facebook until the pandemic caused our church to shut down in person services and go to virtual services. Now, as I browse through posts on Facebook, I am reading a lot of religious sounding statements. They almost never refer to a bible passage, but they say things that tickled the ears of many as indicated by comment like “true,” “Amen,” and other statements of agreement. It is apparent that these posts tickle the ears of many people allowing them permission to seek their own desires. I notice that when someone post true statements and gives scripture as the support for what they are saying there are less favorable responses in the “like” and “comment” responses. Could it be that even today people want teachers that will tickle their ears?