Jump Start # 658

2 Timothy 4:3 “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,”

Our passage today is the apostolic advice Paul gives to the younger Timothy. It is a reality check. It reminds him of his purpose and commitment to the Lord. Paul tells Timothy to stick with preaching the word. The people won’t. Timothy won’t be viewed as a rock star among the people. In fact, the time will come when they will want another message and that includes another messenger. Notices the expressions Paul uses:

• They will not endure sound doctrine. It’s not that sound doctrine is hard to endure, it’s the heart of these listeners. The sound doctrine is the doctrine of Christ. It’s what we cut our teeth on and it’s what we build our faith upon. The sound doctrine of Christ is what cuts the path through the fog of confusion, doubt and uncertainty. It defines what is right and what is not right. Some don’t want sound doctrine. Sound doctrine can be narrow. It can oppose what some want. We must stay with sound doctrine to be right with God. There are some who start with it but later tire of it and want to leave it. Timothy would face such people.
• Wanting to have their ears tickled. This expression is meant to imply that they longed to hear what was pleasant and to their liking. Ears tickled brings the idea of fun, laughter and joy. Kids tickling one another is a time of giggles, smiles and fun. Long before this, Solomon said that it was better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting because the living take it to heart. We shouldn’t read into this that sound doctrine is boring, long, stuffy, hard, painful or dull. Ugh! Not at all. Sound doctrine is deep. It challenges a person to think, apply and become. Ear tickling preaching is soft, shallow and doesn’t do much. It’s like eating cotton candy. You see them selling cotton candy at the ballgames. It’s colorful and the kids want it. The thing about cotton candy is that you don’t even have to chew it, it just melts away in your mouth. It’s sticky, tasty, and fun, but there’s nothing to it. After a long, hard day of helping someone move boxes or working out or hiking, the thoughts of a plateful of cotton candy just doesn’t appeal to you. You want some substance. Potatoes, meat, veggies—solid food. You never see the guys at a ball game walking up and down the isles selling baked potatoes. Cotton candy, yes. Bake potatoes, no. Some want a gospel that is lite, soft, and easy to digest. Cotton candy theology sells in churches. People love it. But when the storm clouds move in, that cotton candy teaching doesn’t help. It’s the sound doctrine that gets us through the funeral. It’s the sound doctrine that helps us with our teenagers. It’s the sound doctrine that makes Satan turn and flee. Some folks just want their ears tickled.

• They will accumulate teachers in accordance with their own desires. The ear ticklers will win out. They will ditch the sound doctrine preachers and find the ear tickling preachers. There will be preachers who sell out to become ear ticklers. They will present a message that is pleasant, joyful and empty. They will be praised, loved and popular in the ear tickling circles. Ear ticklers thrive on popularity and money. The more popular they are the more money they make and the larger their crowds. Ear ticklers stay away from certain topics. In fact they stay away from a lot of topics. That’s how they became ear ticklers. It’d be wonderful if the ear ticklers couldn’t find anyone to satisfy them. But they do. Cotton candy theology and happy-clappy times seem to be the hit of the month for many folks.

What’s the solution? First, sound doctrine still needs to be taught. We need to know it, believe it, preach it and stand with it. Secondly, sound doctrine can be presented in fresh, interesting and challenging ways. It doesn’t have to come across like dry toast. Put some jelly on it and show while sound doctrine makes a difference in our lives. Make application. Make it plain. Show why Christ works. Show why He is the answer.

Ear tickling preaching builds ear tickling churches. Sound doctrine preaching builds sound doctrine churches. That’s how it works. What happens when a person dies? Does it matter how we worship God? Is Jesus coming? Don’t tell me a story, give me Bible! Show me. Teach me.

What Timothy was facing was congregations that did not want sound doctrine. We have a responsibility in that. We encourage sound doctrine or we drive it away. It is our duty to seek sound doctrine. This is not the preachers problems, it’s the congregation’s. Those that became ear ticklers did so because that’s what the congregations wanted. They did it to survive and to thrive.

Our verse began, “the time will come…” It’s come. It’s now. It’s before us. Cotton candy or solid teaching? Ear tickling or sound doctrine? Shallow or depth? Stories or truth?

There is an old hymn that says, “Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word…”

Roger