Itching Ears

For the time will come when people 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. -2 Timothy 4:3

This is a tough verse. Mostly because it’s true. We look to the Bible so many times for words of comfort, which it does provide. But often we do so to try and validate what we think is true. We try to find words or twist meanings to give truth to our own flawed thoughts.

The gospel begins with a humbling and difficult thought; that we are flawed and in need of saving. We have grown tired of this message and reject it. We look at our flaws and reject the truth of the gospel. We seek out teachers who tell us what we want to hear, rather than the truth. Many churches today stray away from the hard truths of the good news and tell us what we want to hear and makes us feel good. Because if we feel good, we keep coming back.

The goal of the church should not be to get as many people in the doors as we can, any way we can. It’s to tell of the good news of Christ. And when the good news of Christ is shared, it will spread and multiply and will complete it’s work. And while the good news at times can be hard to hear, it’s good news because we are forgiven when we believe in Christ. When we have faith that the work of Jesus on the cross was enough, we receive that comfort that we are seeking so desperately. We can realize that we are flawed and need a savior and that we have one.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’ -Luke 5:20