II Timothy 4:1-22
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (vv. 3-4) Yesterday I mentioned liberal theology as a problem for the church today. These verses recall that same warning: will not endure sound teaching; having itching ears; teachers to suit their own passions; turn away from … the truth… Those phrases have come full blown in today’s world. So many members in the larger Christian church are allowing the surrounding culture to guide their theology: rampant divorce, unmarried Christian couples living together, “pro-choice” values, same-sex marriage, politicians on both sides of the aisle grasping for power instead of the overall good, our enormous wealth inequality… Add your own items to that list. As I’ve said before, I fear for our children and grandchildren and the future world in which they will live.
There is one item about those verses quoted above that strikes me differently in the ESV versus the NASB translation. The ESV says …having itching ears… while the NASB has …but wanting to have their ears tickled… An itch and a tickle are two different things. An itch implies a real yearning, a need for relief, while being tickled suggests delight from whatever is happening outside our bodies. An itching ears person seems to want a preacher to “preach what I want to hear”, while a tickled ear person wants a preacher who will “make me feel good”. The ESV translation suggests a more aggressive person; the NASB suggests a more passive person. Unfortunately, in both cases, one’s theology is left to one’s desires.
So, as I note in the third link below, we now leave Paul’s epistles – unless, of course, Paul is the author of Hebrews (which we will be reading in a week or so). But first, on to Peter, Jude, and James!
See also: October 14 / II Timothy 4:1-8; October 15 / II Timothy 4:9-15; October 16 / II Timothy 4:16-22
Regarding the verses Fred mentioned, I am reminded of the video Kerry showed today, which traces evil in this world back to our desire to define good and evil according to what we want or like.
I see that underlying principle in a lot of what’s going on around us in our culture—ugly! But since I’m guilty of the same tendency, I need to examine my judgements and motives first. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of layers of denial and (intentional?) blindness covering all that up…