You Church Should not Be About Itching Ears
Jul 14, 2007
The Bible gives us the following warning, as recorded in 2nd Timothy 4:3+4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” In other words, people are going to reject the truth and accept a lie because the lie satisfies their itching ears. They will accept the lie because the lie is what they want to hear. When we compare what is found in the Bible with what is being taught in many churches today, we can see this very thing happening.
This problem of believing lies that are appealing is not a new problem. It has always been happening. When the serpent told Eve that she would not die if she ate the forbidden fruit, she believed him and was forced to leave paradise where she eventually would die (Genesis 3). Later, as recorded in Jeremiah chapter 28, a false prophet named Hananiah predicted peace and claimed it was a message from God. Even though it was a lie, the people trusted it (Jeremiah 28:15). However, when the prophet Jeremiah told the true message from God, that there would not be peace, it was not what the people wanted to hear. Even though Jeremiah’s message was the truth, it was unpleasant and the people turned on him and imprisoned him (Jeremiah 37).
When we are told an appealing message, it can be hard not to accept it because we just want it to be true. But accepting it does us no good. Whenever I have plans that involve being outdoors, I find myself believing in the forecast that calls for the nicest weather with the lowest chance of rain. The fact that I believe in the most optimistic forecast never makes it more likely to happen. Believing in a pleasant lie can heal slightly (Jeremiah 6:14). It gives us a short-lived good feeling, but in the end it can be disastrous (Jeremiah 6:17-19). Putting our confidence in a lie is like building with “untempered mortar” (Ezekiel 13:15+16). Eventually it will fall.
The most appealing lies often seem to be the ones that remove accountability and responsibility from our lives. If someone told me I no longer had to pay taxes, I would certainly like to believe him. The Bible provides an example of a responsibility-removing lie that was of the sort that would “spread like cancer” (2nd Timothy 2:16-18). The lie was told that the resurrection was already past. If this had been true, then people would have been allowed to do whatever they wanted with no consequences. If there was to be no next life, then there could be no punishment for failure to obey God. One such false message being taught today is that once we are saved, we are always saved and we cannot lose our salvation. This message is appealing because it takes away accountability by making people believe God will reward them no matter what they do. However, it is contrary to what the Bible teaches (Galatians 5:4; James 5:19+20). Another popular message today is that it doesn’t matter what we do; it only matters what we believe. Once again, this is an appealing message because stating a belief in God takes much less effort and responsibility than living a life in obedience to God. This message, though appealing to the ears, is also contrary to God’s word (Ephesians 2:8-10, James 2:14-26).
What type of church do you attend? Is it a church that teaches the truth, even when the truth may be hard to accept? Or is it a church that only tells its members exactly what they want to hear, whether it’s the truth or not? Is it a church that exists only to satisfy itching ears?
This problem of believing lies that are appealing is not a new problem. It has always been happening. When the serpent told Eve that she would not die if she ate the forbidden fruit, she believed him and was forced to leave paradise where she eventually would die (Genesis 3). Later, as recorded in Jeremiah chapter 28, a false prophet named Hananiah predicted peace and claimed it was a message from God. Even though it was a lie, the people trusted it (Jeremiah 28:15). However, when the prophet Jeremiah told the true message from God, that there would not be peace, it was not what the people wanted to hear. Even though Jeremiah’s message was the truth, it was unpleasant and the people turned on him and imprisoned him (Jeremiah 37).
When we are told an appealing message, it can be hard not to accept it because we just want it to be true. But accepting it does us no good. Whenever I have plans that involve being outdoors, I find myself believing in the forecast that calls for the nicest weather with the lowest chance of rain. The fact that I believe in the most optimistic forecast never makes it more likely to happen. Believing in a pleasant lie can heal slightly (Jeremiah 6:14). It gives us a short-lived good feeling, but in the end it can be disastrous (Jeremiah 6:17-19). Putting our confidence in a lie is like building with “untempered mortar” (Ezekiel 13:15+16). Eventually it will fall.
The most appealing lies often seem to be the ones that remove accountability and responsibility from our lives. If someone told me I no longer had to pay taxes, I would certainly like to believe him. The Bible provides an example of a responsibility-removing lie that was of the sort that would “spread like cancer” (2nd Timothy 2:16-18). The lie was told that the resurrection was already past. If this had been true, then people would have been allowed to do whatever they wanted with no consequences. If there was to be no next life, then there could be no punishment for failure to obey God. One such false message being taught today is that once we are saved, we are always saved and we cannot lose our salvation. This message is appealing because it takes away accountability by making people believe God will reward them no matter what they do. However, it is contrary to what the Bible teaches (Galatians 5:4; James 5:19+20). Another popular message today is that it doesn’t matter what we do; it only matters what we believe. Once again, this is an appealing message because stating a belief in God takes much less effort and responsibility than living a life in obedience to God. This message, though appealing to the ears, is also contrary to God’s word (Ephesians 2:8-10, James 2:14-26).
What type of church do you attend? Is it a church that teaches the truth, even when the truth may be hard to accept? Or is it a church that only tells its members exactly what they want to hear, whether it’s the truth or not? Is it a church that exists only to satisfy itching ears?